Final Fantasy VIII: Doomsday Part III
by Ally Todd
Summary: The third part of a trilogy. The countdown to apocalypse has begun and the heroes of Balamb Garden are in the firing line. A story or revenge, love and resurrection revolves around Balmab Garden and the Obsidian family as the seconds tick away to Doomsday. Contains strong violence, language, adult content and scenes of torture.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: On The Hunt**

Dante strutted down the high street in his native Dollet. It never ceased to amaze him how much the city of his birth had changed over the years. His school was now an administrative building of some description and his old house was now part of the tavern known as the Shining Bomber. The old recruitment centre Dante had visited to join the army was now a restaurant overlooking the sea. In fact practically the only thing that _hadn't _changed was the location and the army garrison in the mountains west of the main city.

Dollet wasn't the only thing that had changed. Dante's return to his vampire hunting vocation had coincided with a pretty radical makeover. After leaving Balamb Garden behind he'd spent the last four months building him self up to peak fitness and following every lead he could get to the Obsidian family to no avail. He'd cut his hair shot and had it dyed platinum blond, Billy Idol style. He'd ditched his usual pseudo-military garb for a black leather duster and jeans complete with biker boots. The only non black item of clothing was an unbuttoned red shirt he wore under his jacket and over a black muscle shirt.

Dante's determination to wipe the Obsidian family off the face of the planet had grown into a full blown obsession. Alexander was his prime target, followed quickly by Swift. He wasn't too disposed to killing the others. After all Gaston had done near enough nothing to him, and Alice had only tortured him. Dante did think that once he was finished with Alexander and Swift he might go after the others. In the end it would most likely come down to his mood. He would go on hunting vampires until one of them killed him. He knew that he was incapable of totally eradicating the entire species and his original mission statement was unchanged. He'd taken it upon himself to control the population because it if got out of hand and there was a war with humans, the humans would lose and Dante had enough of a troubled conscience without adding to it.

"Evening Willy." Dante said jauntily as he pushed the bead curtain aside and sauntered into the bar where he got most of his information. "I was hoping you cold help me."

"Dante Skyle," Willy nodded at him, his small dark eyes taking Dante's changed appearance. "Nice new look. What can I do for you?"

"Glass of bourbon on the rocks to start with." Dante said as he sat down at the bar and looked around the bar taking in the patrons. There were a few humans that were being eyed hungrily by a couple of vampires in the corner. There were also two demons with green scales and downward pointing tusks protruding from their cheeks. They were talking in quiet grunts and squealing sounds. Willy set down the glass in front of Dante and took the money with a nod of thanks. Willy turned away from Dante to put the money in the cash register but Dante grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face him.

"Not so fast Willy." He said ominously. "I've been chasing dead ends and cold trails on a little venture for four months and I think it's high time I got some concrete information. I came here because you've got a perpetual ear to the ground."

"Okay," Willy said blankly. "Maybe you can give me a little more than that? What are you up to then? What are you so interested in?"

"The Obsidian family," Dante replied, satisfied to see Willy go pale. "Alexander and Swift in particular. What can you tell me about them?"

"Nothing." Willy exclaimed, too quickly and in far too high a voice to convince Dante he was telling the truth. "I wasn't sure they were still walking around. Word was you got them. You or SeeD."

"Well I did manage to bait and kill Adrian Obsidian that's true." Dante said. "I'm more interested in the others. The less passive aggressive ones. After what happened to Adrian they'll come for me. I plan to find them first."

"It's not that I don't want to help you." Willy stuttered desperately. "I've got no love for these guys but if I help you they'll find out. You know what Alexander Obsidian is like. He'd probably fly me to Trabia, tie my limbs to four different sled dog teams and yell "mush". I can't help you."

"Willy, if you tell me what you know I'll protect you." Dante said evenly. "If I can kill one of them I can protect you from the rest."

"And if they kill you?" Willy said.

"I know you Willy." Dante replied. "You'll weasel you way out of it. If you tell them I forced you to help me it's odds on they won't hurt you." Dante knew it probably wouldn't go that way. When it came to revenge Alexander and Gaston in particular were not rational men. However, if Willy's life was the price Dante had to pay to rid the world of the Obsidian family, then he would gladly pay it. The needs of the many and so forth.

"I can only tell you what I know." Willy stammered nervously. "It's not much though."

"Then tell me what you know and pray it makes me happy." Dante growled. "I will warn you, the last time you gave me information on Swift it led to me being shot several times by a gun toting lunatic I could, quite literally, not kill."

"You know that they have a big mansion in the City of Angels?" Willy said quietly but quickly. "You won't find all of them there. I believe the only member of the family who's staying there is Gaston. The others are moving around a lot."

"Are they together?" Dante asked.

"I don't think so but I doubt it." Willy answered. "There's always this whole alpha male thing going on between Swift and Alexander. If they were together it'd be a lot easier to find them. You'd just have to follow the pretty extensive level of collateral damage."

"Where would they go?" Dante continued. "Come on Willy, I know you and I know you've tried to figure out everything about these guys. Tell me what you know?"

"Duplicity is the way to go I think." Willy told him. "If you're looking to kill Alexander, I would go to Swift and try to get him on your side. Swift is the guy you need on your side."

"It won't work." Dante said impatiently. "I killed Adrian, remember? Swift will take one look at me and rip my heart out. Where do you think they'd go?"

"Well whether they're running from you, or looking for somewhere to live it up I guess they'll all go to the same place." Willy said. "Esthar, probably in the city somewhere. It's easy to hide in a city of three hundred million people and that city is big enough for both Alexander and Swift, not to mention their hot little sister."

"Don't go there with Alice." Dante advised. "One minute she had me upside down and halfway to happy land, the next she was torturing the living hell out of me. Charming lass really. I'll be back." Dante drained his glass and slid of the bar stool before heading outside and heading for the hotel room where his equipment was.

* * *

The Behemoth thundered forwards but Squall easily sidestepped the charge and sliding his gun blade out stabbed it in the shoulder as it barrelled past him. The Behemoth whirled towards him and attempted to gore Squall with his tusks. The tusks met empty air as Squall dropped to the floor and slid underneath them. As he came up he hurled a fistful of dirt in the Behemoths eyes. It roared in anguish and then charged towards Squall, attempting to impale him on the tusks or failing that trample him underfoot. Squall waited until the tusks were less than a foot away before sidestepping and striking at the beast as it rushed past him, inflicting several cuts that were designed more to irritate the beast than cause any serious damage.

"Okay then," Squall muttered as the beast whirled towards him, murder in its eyes. "What are you going to do now?"

The beast roared deafeningly at Squall who simply leaned on his gun blade and observed the monster with an air of polite interest. Squall was familiar with just about every monsters definition of "scare tactics" and he was yet to find one that rattled him. The Behemoth snorted, somewhat miffed at this reaction, or lack thereof. Squall still didn't move as the Behemoth started to paw the ground and he barely blinked when it charged towards him. Once again Squall waited until the monster was basically on top of him before ducking between the tusks, avoiding the jaws and then leaping onto the beast's back where he immediately started hacking away at the Behemoth's back with a view to severing the spinal column.

"Sorry if this is taking too long." Squall murmured, surprising even himself with the use of "battlefield humour". That was more Zell or Irvine's department. "You see, I'm slightly out of practise."

The Behemoth immediately went berserk and started bucking violently in a bid to throw Squall off. It succeeded fairly quickly but not before Squall had opened a not insubstantial amount of wounds across the beasts' back. Squall reckoned he could take a back seat and simply wait for the beast to bleed to death. If was still rampaging around and bucking violently. Squall pulled out the gun he'd purchased in one of the towns in northern Esthar. It was a .44 "Dirty Harry" Magnum revolver and therefore very far from low profile. He fired a shot in the air but the Behemoth continued bucking, obviously under the impression Squall was still on its back. Squall sighed and without blinking shot the beast between its front legs. It howled in totally justified pain and finally noticed Squall who allowed himself a grim smile.

"Now that I have your attention," He growled, shoving the gun through his belt and hefting his gun blade once more. "Can we finish this little tussle?"

In spite of its wounds the Behemoth seemed game for a rumble. Squall wasted absolutely no time showing it the error of its ways. He dodged the tusks and stabbed straight out, the gun blade easily penetrating its forehead. Squall shrugged before pulling the trigger. The battle finished in an explosion of blood, bone fragments and brain matter as the Behemoth's head exploded. It just came apart and was quite suddenly all over the place. Unfortunately, a great deal of it hit Squall. Squall shook his head vigorously and cursed under his breath. He'd probably have to break into one of those big country houses outside the city, hope the owners were away and use the shower.

As Squall headed towards one such dwelling he began to get the feeling he was being watched. He raised his gun blade before stopping and looking around. He sighed.

"I know you're there." He called out aggressively. "Show yourself. Please don't make me come and find you." Squall hadn't expected anyone to reply so he was surprised when a familiar figure walked around a large rock formation. Squall yanked out his revolver and aimed it at the figures head.

"Hello Squall," Swift Obsidian said brightly as he stopped a few metres away. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Or anywhere come to think of it."

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises me." Squall growled, thumbing the hammer on his gun. "Now what do you want. I find it hard to believe you just happened to come across me in the middle of the desert."

"And how's your health Squall, mine is grand thanks for asking." Swift drawled before throwing an appraising look at the gun aimed at his head. "Oh please put it away Squall. If I was here for a fight you'd be able to tell by your head parting company with your body."

"What do you want from me?" Squall demanded, still not lowering the gun.

"Well first off, let me say that what Alexander did to you was utterly abhorrent." Swift said. "Rest assured I made him pay dearly while you were kipping at the bottom of the ocean but I couldn't kill him because, when all's said and done he is still my brother."

"I think I'm going to cry." Squall sneered.

"This brings me onto my next theme." Swift said it pleasantly although there was a noticeable edge of steel in his voice. "I can understand you wanting revenge on Alexander so I need to say something. Come after my brother and you come after me. I will not hesitate to kill you on the spot, don't think for one minute I can't. Please Squall, for your own good let this one go."

"I'll bear that in mind." Squall said before pumping the remaining four bullets in the chamber into Swift's chest from point blank range, sending him somersaulting over backwards and onto the ground. Before Swift could react Squall pinned him to the ground with a boot.

"Listen up." Squall growled as he reloaded his revolver and aimed it directly at Swift's face. "I'm done listening to you, or Alexander. I will find Alexander, and I will kill him. If I were you, I'd stay the hell out of my way. If I ever see you again I'll be less merciful."

Squall then sighed down the barrel and fired a single shot, the bullet barely clipping Swift's left temple. Unconsciousness was immediate and Squall spat contemptuously on the vampires motionless form before about facing and marching off towards the skyscrapers of Esthar's capital city. Swift regained consciousness quickly by virtue of his ancient vampire physiology and he stared after the receding figure with sheer loathing before pulling out his phone and hitting a number on his speed dial.

"It's Swift." He said as he pulled out a butterfly knife and started psyching himself up for the unpleasant task of removing the bullets from his chest. "I need a gun blade."

* * *

It was near sunset and Dante had made it to Esthar in record time. He immediately checked into a hotel and after a shot of courage from the mini bar he headed out onto the street. His MAC 10 was loaded with a combination of wooden and incendiary rounds and he stored more magazines in his jacket. He'd also equipped on his wrist mounted stake launcher, a combat knife in his belt and a stake strapped under his shoulder in case things got dicey. Then he left the hotel and headed into the lower levels of the city.

Blood and Honour was a notorious vampire hangout in Esthar and was also the location at which Alexander had performed the ritual to send Dante to Quor-Toth. Dante didn't expect his target to be there but if nothing else it would give him somewhere to start. Dante stepped inside and walked up to the bar; clocking every vampire in the bar to make sure they weren't taking an unnatural interest in him. He slid onto a bar stool and cleared his throat to get the bartenders attention. The bar tender stopped wiping glasses and turned to regard Dante.

"Can I help you?"

"Give me a beer." Dante said evenly. "Top it with a bit of blood, but make it the good stuff. None of that bloody orang-utan."

As the bar tender turned away to fix Dante's drink, Dante's attention was caught by a black and white photograph on the wall, showing three men standing in front of the bar. One was the bar tender, and another was sitting at the table less than three metres away. The third was quite clearly Alexander and that effectively convinced Dante that he was on the right track. He was jerked out his reverie by the bar tender setting his drink down in front of him. He pulled out a note and handed it over.

"Keep the change." The feeling that he was closing in made Dante a generous sort. He took a mouthful of his drink and nodded in satisfaction. "Human."

"We only serve human here." The man at the table said abruptly as Dante took another mouthful. "You like it?"

"Well I wouldn't be a very good vampire if I didn't." Dante said evenly, swivelling to face the man. "What about you? Are you a good vampire?"

"I haven't heard any complaints." The man replied as Dante got up and walked slowly over before sitting down facing the man.

"Lucky you." Dante grinned as he took another mouthful. "You wouldn't believe the amount of complaints I've heard. Mind you, I did tend to kill anyone who spoke up and that was pretty much that. I learnt about being a vampire from one of the best. The baddest of the bad." Dante gaze switched immediately to the photo on the wall. "Something tells me he likes to hang out here. When do you reckon he'll stop by next?"

"If I did know I wouldn't tell some two bit bloodsucker who is about get his internal organ sucked out via his…" The vampire stopped talking mainly because Dante had grabbed him by his throat.

"We've got rules here." The bar tender said as he raised a pump action shotgun at Dante's head. "Rule number one, no killing." The remaining vampires took that as a hint to leave, leaving Dante alone with the other two men. Dante sighed and stood up to face the bartender.

"You know that won't kill me." Dante said affording the weapon a contemptuous glance.

"It'll hurt you." The bartender said. "That part's fun."

"You guys really don't help yourselves do you?" Dante growled. "He'd kill you in a heartbeat without a second thought. I however, am perfectly happy to do it for him." Dante kicked out, forcing the shotgun upwards to point under the bar tenders jaw. It discharged and he dropped. The other man was frozen as Dante pulled out his knife and sat down next to him. He nodded at the sign over the bar.

"Blood and Honour," He stated casually as he forced the man's right hand palm down on the table. "Which would you care to shed first?"

"Go to hell!" The vampire snarled.

"Blood then." Dante stabbed the vampire in the wrist, pinning his arm to the table. He ignored the screams and calmly drank the rest of his beer before pulling the knife out again.

"Who are you?" The vampire gritted out in an agonised voice as Dante got to his feet.

"Let's just say that I'm Frankenstein's monster," Dante said before driving his stake into the vampire's heart. He crossed and gazed at the photograph once more. "And I'm looking for my creator."

* * *

Irvine and Zell meanwhile were in Irvine's new room at Galbadia Garden. Zell was sitting in the desk chair reading a book while Irvine was pacing agitatedly around the room like a caged Grendel.

"Right, here we are." Zell looked up before consulting the book and clearing his throat. "Blunted feelings, difficulty in expressing feelings, psychic numbing, detachment, nightmares, jumpy…"

"Yep all of them." Irvine thundered, glaring hatefully at the wall. "Go on."

"Hating disorder." Zell continued, keeping a wary eye on the sharpshooter. "Recurrent and intrusive recollections of the event." Zell sighed. "Mate, you've got PTSD."

"I know." Irvine growled as he crossed to the window and gazed out of it. The absence of Dante hadn't resulted in a marked improvement in Irvine's behaviour. In fact it had deteriorated steadily and destroyed just about everything in Irvine's life. He was facing disciplinary actions for intimidating behaviour and violence. He and Selphie's relationship had self destructed spectacularly after Irvine had a nightmare about the shooting on Battleship Island and woken up to find himself attempting to snap Selphie's neck. Irvine turned back to Zell. "Continue please."

"Losing ability to feel emotions," Zell read. "Especially those associated with intimacy, tenderness and sexuality, hyper-vigilance, difficulty in concentrating and completing tasks." Zell shook his head. "Jesus mate, I've got it."

"You're not funny." Irvine bit off.

"You've got to see someone Irvine." Zell said decisively.

"And they'll tell me I've got PTSD." Irvine argued. "And put me off operations. You don't know what it was like when I was off before. I was climbing the walls. I'd wake up at night and find myself strangling the mother of my child."

"I know." Zell grunted. "I saw the bruises. I can understand not wanting to see a shrink, but you'll be off ops and you'll recover. It's very unlikely you'll be chucked out but even if you are, we all have to retire eventually."

"I hope to be dead by then." Irvine said simply. "In fact I mean to be dead by then."

"This can't go on." Zell said sagely. "I know I'm not the most emotionally balanced person around but I know what I'm talking about. You're in no fit state to go on ops."

"Why can't you understand?" Irvine yelled in exasperation. "If I see someone over this, even if they say I'm hunky dory it's there on my file. I just need a job. Then I'll be to busy trying to stay alive than worrying over my mental state, which when you think about what our job makes us give, that's a small price to pay."

"Have you tried telling Selphie that?" Zell asked.

"She's been avoiding me ever since I tried to kill her." Irvine muttered. "I know she asked you to bring Luna over the other day. Don't even try to deny it."

"Irvine, can you seriously blame her for being a bit skittish?" Zell said. "You almost killed her. It's just good luck you happened to wake up when you did. Any more and she'd be dead. Can you blame her?"

"No I can't." Irvine relented. "I don't suppose it'd be a good idea to point out that it wasn't my fault."

"I think Selphie's mainly angry with herself." Zell explained. "She thinks she should've noticed it before. It's not just Selphie though. You've been acting strangely and aggressively for ages. Do you remember that job on Renton's safe house?"

"You're taking Dante Skyle's side over mine?" Irvine exclaimed, outraged.

"I hadn't finished so stop biting my head off." Zell said warningly. "I've got no love for Dante but he had a point. You weren't doing your best work covering our backs at the safe house and you know it. Am I right?"

"I suppose an argument could be made for that." Irvine admitted, sounding as if he really didn't want to.

"Maybe that was a symptom of your shaky mental state, maybe it wasn't." Zell pointed out before standing up and tossing the Exeter to Irvine who easily caught it. "Now I'm assuming this place has a Training Centre correct? Let's go and find something to hit. Work off a little bit of that excess anger. You know what I mean?"

"You know something," Irvine growled with a bloodthirsty grin. "That sounds like a damn good idea."

* * *

Esthar was even more teeming with life at night than it was at day, so Squall was able to move pretty freely throughout the metropolis without drawing unnecessary attention. He'd purchased a long black jacket to conceal the gun blade strapped across his back. He'd guessed that given Swift's proximity to the city and his attempts to stop Squall going off on a revenge mission meant that Alexander was probably somewhere in the city. Unfortunately he had no idea where so he guessed his best course of action was to wander the city and hope he came across Alexander. Not a brilliant idea in a city of three hundred million but in lieu of any better ideas Squall would have to take it. On the bright side of things Alexander probably wouldn't be to hard to find. He wasn't quite the highest profile member of his family but he was higher profile than most humans.

While Squall strode through the streets his thoughts wandered pretty freely before coming to rest firmly on his former comrades. That would certainly be an interesting reunion when they eventually discovered that he'd quite literally returned from the dead. God only knew how certain people, Seifer in particular would react. There was also the troublesome issue of convincing the rest of them that his soul was back where it belonged. He also had a pretty good idea as to why he was back. After the Ultimecia Affair Squall had done pretty extensive research on Sorceress powers and in the course of the aforementioned research he'd discovered that for every spell only a Sorceress could do there was another a Sorceress could quite literally not do. Resurrection was one. Only witches could perform resurrection. That begged the question, who wanted him resurrected? Squall couldn't remember ever meeting a witch.

_So who resurrected me?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Trial By Fire**

"So Seifer," Cid addressed Seifer across his desk, with Quistis and Xu standing at his shoulders. "Quistis tells me that on Christmas Day you expressed a desire to become a SeeD. Can you give me one reason why we shouldn't, to quote Xu; "throw you out on your big meaty head"?"

"You want one reason?" Seifer snorted, throwing Xu a look of deepest loathing that she easily returned. "I could give you a thousand. I'm the only person in the Garden organisation who uses a gun blade and I don't think we've seen the last of the Obsidian family or that big rock monster we fought in Deling. Sooner or later they'll resurface and you'll need someone who can fight them. You'll need someone who is faster, stronger and smarter than anyone you've got, and he's sitting in this chair."

"There's the arrogant Seifer we all know and loath." Xu sneered. "You cannot be serious about bringing him back Headmaster. Give Seifer half a chance and he'll be a bigger problem than the Obsidian family."

"Thanks Xu," Seifer hurled back, patting his chest. "That makes me feel all warm inside. Now if you wouldn't mind taking your head and boiling it don't let me stop you."

"Listen up smartass," Xu growled, fingering the knives sheathed at her waist. "I don't care who thinks you're reformed, I know better. Your whole repentant act may fool everyone else but I see right through it. You haven't changed because you can't and as far as I'm concerned letting you back into Balamb Garden is a seriously bad idea."

"Xu, darling this may be a bit much for a blunt instrument like you to understand but do your best." Seifer said, with a mischievous twinkle in his green eyes. "Why don't you take your prejudices and shove them up your ass, which I must say is rather perfectly formed."

"That's enough," Quistis said as Xu opened her mouth to return fire. "We're trying to have a civilised conversation here and we can't do that with you two deliberately trying to antagonise each other."

"Seifer, while my personal opinion is that you should be allowed back to train as a SeeD we must take your somewhat chequered past into account." Cid said in a carefully measured tone. "I'm afraid I cannot allow you to train as a SeeD until I see irrevocable proof that you are reformed."

"Simply put, you can train as a SeeD when hell freezes over." Xu supplied helpfully, not even bothering to hide a satisfied smile.

"Let me ask you something." Seifer said calmly. "When I was fighting alongside Irvine, Zell and Dante against that beast in Deling City, did you ever consider that could be the proof you were looking for. That thing nearly killed us all but I still fought it with everything I had. If you think there's anyone else who would throw themselves into a fight like that they were not contractually obliged to participate in, excluding of course a nutcase like Dante, I'd love to meet them."

"Your point being?" Xu enquired in a lofty voice.

"My point being that I could be useful, and if that makes me sound arrogant then so be it." Seifer replied. "I can see your mind is made up Xu but happily whether or not I'm let back in is not your choice."

"I believe the Headmaster has already made a decision." Xu growled. She could see that Seifer's words were having a noticeable effect on Cid and she didn't like it one bit. "We can't let you in unless we're sure you're not going to go crazy and hurt someone. No offence Seifer but you're not exactly a brilliant advertisement for sanity."

"You should know Xu," Quistis said. "We had the Doctor assess Seifer mentally and he came up clean. Some anger management may be needed but aside from that Seifer's as sane as you or me."

"You can't argue with that ringing endorsement." Seifer chuckled, his eyes and smirk taunting Xu.

"Oh yes I can." Xu muttered under her breath before lapsing into silence, her eyes pinned on Seifer. Seifer simply smiled back, satisfied to know how furious he was making her. There was a long silence. Cid and Quistis simply looked pensive while Seifer ignored Xu's gaze and toyed with a silver letter opener. Seifer looked up as Quistis wrote something down on a notepad and handed it to Cid. Cid read it before handing it to Xu. She snorted before handing the notepad back.

"Seifer, I've had time to reconsider." Cid said in a carefully measured tone. "You're definitely proficient in combat and I think we're all agreed that regardless of your colourful CV you'd be an asset to any SeeD team. Quistis happens to have come up with an excellent method of determining whether or not you should be allowed back to train in Balamb Garden. My personal feelings is that, in time, you could become the best SeeD to come out of Garden since…"

"Squall?" Seifer mused. "It makes sense I suppose. After all, it's not exactly my finest moment but I did kill him. What do you want me to do?"

"You'll be told in time," Quistis said. "But if I were you I'd start to train hard. It's not going to be easy, and it's not going to be fun."

"Well don't do me any favours." Seifer replied before smiling wolfishly. "I relish a good challenge. Am I likely to be killed? Maybe I'm a tad sentimental but I'd hate to disappoint Xu." Seifer stood up and took a cocky bow, before blowing Xu a kiss and vacating the office.

"I really hate that guy!" Xu snarled.

* * *

Dante strode into his hotel room after another nights fruitless searching and he immediately came to a slightly stunned and extremely exasperated halt. Standing by the bed was his estranged wife Nina Doyle. Dante sighed and set his crossbow down on the desk.

"Okay Nina," He said ominously. "Before I take great joy in ejecting you from this hotel room would you care to tell me what exactly you're doing here?"

"First off, you're a hard man to find." Nina replied evenly. "At least you haven't gone soft. Anyway, I've heard a lot of things about you, my dearly beloved on the underground."

"The underground?" Dante raised an eyebrow sceptically.

"From the things that live under the ground." Nina clarified. "The word is that you've been making some pretty sizeable waves in their little community. I don't suppose you'd care to tell me exactly what you're up to?"

"You suppose correctly." Dante bit off as he crossed to the mini-bar and pulled out a small bottle of vodka. "You can leave now."

"You know Dante, you're not fooling me." Nina didn't move. "You've got a new look with the hair and the coat but I know you dear husband and I know there's only one thing you care about. You're still obsessed with tracking down Swift and Alexander and killing them in as unpleasant a manner as possible."

"It's no secret I want them dead." Dante said, more to himself than anyone else before turning and fixing Nina with a hard look. "What are you still doing here?"

"Look Dante, if you're going to stand any chance of killing them you'll need to play it smart." Nina went on. "They're smart and the only way to better them is to be ingenious. You might want to start by drafting in someone who knows these guys and how they work. Say, for example someone who's spent most of her life running from Alexander."

"And who might that be?" Dante demanded before the penny dropped with a resounding clang. "You have got to be kidding. What makes you think I'd work with you of all people?"

"Dante think about it." Nina pressed. "I've been one step ahead of Alexander for the vast majority of the last eight decades. I daresay I know more about him than you do and I know for a fact you'd be an idiot to turn my help down."

"Then I'm an idiot." Dante said stubbornly. "I work alone and the sooner you realise that the better. Also, never try to use my vengeance crusade to convince me to have sex with you again."

"Don't flatter yourself." Nina scoffed. "I've realised we're never getting back together. I'm here because I want Alexander dead as much as you do. Come on Dante, you and I both know that you'll do anything for a shot at him. That includes working with me. I know you don't like me but maybe you'll keep me around to split his attention a little?"

"What's in it for you Nina?" Dante asked. "I know you so maybe you'll enlighten me. You never do anything for free so tell me, what you stand to gain from this?"

"Alexander dead." Nina replied. "I like to have finality in my affairs and as long as Alexander is alive I'll be looking over my shoulder. I'd also prefer it if he didn't rip you apart. Call it residual feelings. We are technically still husband and wife."

"What's the betting that you sell me out to Alexander in return for your freedom?" Dante snorted.

"I know I have quite a reputation for duplicity but I have my standards." Nina gave her hair a toss. "I'm not asking if you want to be soul mates, I just figure a working relationship is the way to go. Two of us have a better chance of killing him than one."

"If I entertain the prospect of working with you, does the mean I'll end up having sex with you?" Dante asked.

"Play your cards right." Nina snickered before shaking her head. "Our relationship will be purely plutonic. What do you say?"

Dante stared at her while he weighed up his options. Nina was a walking, talking reminder of what Alexander had done to him before sending him to Quor-Toth but now she was saying that she wanted to help him get revenge. Most people would have to be clinically insane to trust Nina, who was duplicitous and manipulative even by vampire standards but Dante could always pick up on Nina's tells. She was being honest this time and she was right when she said that two of them would split Alexander's attention somewhat. Dante was not a stupid man, he knew that any help would invaluable against a vampire like Alexander, and if the help happened to get herself killed in the process…

"Alright, you can help me." Dante said. "Meet me for breakfast on Wednesday in the hotel restaurant. Eight o' clock sharp."

* * *

Seifer was sitting on his bed, polishing and sharpening his gun blade when the knock came. He sighed, set the weapon aside and got up off the bed to answer the door. He was surprised to see Quistis in her combat dress with her rante coiled and hanging off her belt. Seifer invited her in with a jerk of the head before returning to the bed and resuming polishing the Hyperion's action to lower the chances of it jamming, which had nearly cost him his life a couple of times.

"I'm afraid I need a little more than that." Quistis said. "Your room is technically a dwelling and a jerk of the head doesn't constitute an invitation."

"Come in Quistis." Seifer said without looking up as he loaded a magazine. "What can I do for you?"

"I've come by to take you to your test." Quistis informed him. "You know the one where you prove to all your doubters that you belong here. We contemplated locking you in the MD Level with a colony of starved Marlboros cursed with serious mental health problems but decided on something else."

"Sounds interesting." Seifer deadpanned. "I don't suppose you'd care to shed some light on what exactly I'm supposed to be doing?"

"All in good time Seifer." Quistis smiled a smile that did nothing to assuage Seifer's suspicions that whatever the powers that be had in mind for him, they were going to enjoy making him suffer. "I can tell you that you'll probably need some magic for the test."

"Thanks but no thanks." Seifer waved a hand dismissively. "I prefer to rely entirely on this…" he indicated the Hyperion "…and this…" He tapped his forehead "…to survive in a fight. A hefty dose of luck would help but that's out of my hands unfortunately."

"I can understand that but that doesn't mean that mentality won't be the death of you." Quistis warned him. "I strongly urge you to reconsider."

"If I'm allowed back I'll follow your orders Quistis." Seifer said flatly. "However, I'm not back just yet so forgive me, but you'll have to let me do this my way. You never know, maybe you'll learn from me."

"It's doubtful, but I suppose stranger things have happened." Quistis nodded more to shut Seifer up than anything else. "Are you coming then?"

"Wait a minute." Seifer said before standing up and crossing to the wardrobe and pulling out his trademark trench coat and pulling it on before sheathing the Hyperion. He resisted the temptation to pose in his bathroom mirror instead standing up straight and facing Quistis. "I'm ready."

Balamb Garden was currently stationary atop a landing pad built in its original location on Balamb Island. Quistis and Seifer both donned visored crash helmets and took a couple of motorcycles to ride to the venue for Seifer's mysterious test. As Seifer rode after Quistis he began to get a good idea of exactly what the test would entail and his suspicions continued to grow when Quistis left the road at an angle towards a door cut into a rocky rise. Seifer shook his head as they both cut their engines and freewheeled down the slope towards the door. The left their helmets with the bikes, resting on their kickstands before heading towards the dark entrance to the Fire Cavern, guarded as usual by two Garden Faculty, combat fatigues and assault rifles very much in evidence.

Seifer knew that Quistis' didn't like the Garden Faculty much but compared to Seifer she was positively even tempered towards them. During his original tenure at Balamb Garden Seifer had coordinated a form of low level resistance towards them and after he'd head butted one aged fifteen they'd been constantly teetering on the edge of war. Were it not for the Garden Faculty's unpopularity Seifer would've been expelled on the spot. Seifer knew that if he gained the right to train as a SeeD he'd have a responsibility to treat everyone with respect but he would be damned if that included the Garden Faculty. Seifer had often fantasised about how easy it would be to push the Garden Faculty guarding the Fire Cavern into one of the lava pools and make it look like an accident.

"Identification?" One of the guards rapped, raising his rifle to point at Seifer's head while the other did the same with Quistis.

"Commander Quistis Trepe, escorting Seifer Almasy into the Fire Cavern." Quistis replied making an effort to sound respectful though her expression looked like she was being force fed poison.

"I wasn't notified." The Garden Faculty facing Seifer said. "I think I'll call up to the Garden and make sure."

Seifer had a different idea in mind. He seized the barrel of the Faculty's rifle and shoved it backwards, laying the Garden Faculty out with a broken jaw. The other guard lifted his rifle and aimed at Seifer but Seifer simply covered the distance between them in a single leap and knocked the man cold with his buddy's rifle. Seifer exchanged a look with Quistis whose features were torn between exasperation and amusement.

"What?" He said trying to sound indignant. "You know you were thinking the very same thing."

"Come on Seifer." Quistis said as she stepped over the unconscious bodies. "If you're good I won't mention that to Cid and Xu."

"It might be better if you did." Seifer grunted. "If nothing else it might endear me to Xu who I get the impression hates these ass clowns as much as I do."

"Don't go expecting a medal from her." Quistis advised as they moved into the Fire Cavern which was all that remained of some long collapsed volcano. It was as Seifer remembered it, rocky bridges forming paths over lakes of molten lava. The temperature was nigh unbearable but Seifer took slow deep breaths, allowing his lungs time to acclimatise to the heat. Quistis stopped and turned to Seifer. "Do you know why we're here?"

"I think I can guess." Seifer grunted. "You want me to fight Ifrit."

"I get the feeling you have a bit of an objection to that." Quistis said. "Go on Seifer; get it off your chest."

"I've fought Ifrit before and beaten him." Seifer explained. "I'm ten times faster and stronger than I was back then so I guess I can be forgiven for thinking that I'm going to walk this."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Seifer." Quistis smiled thinly. "You see, Ifrit uses his age old wisdom to determine how powerful a challenger is. He'll never throw something at a challenger he can't handle. However, the more powerful a challenger, the less Ifrit will hold back. Give your proficiency in combat I'm very interested to see what he'll throw at you. Are you still sure you want to do this?"

"You obviously don't know me as well as you think you do." Seifer said as he drew the Hyperion with a flourish. "If you did, you wouldn't ask that question."

"Why do you want to come back anyway?" Quistis asked as they started walking. "I got the impression that you never particularly enjoyed the work involved in becoming a SeeD?"

"I don't like to leave things unfinished if I can avoid it." Seifer admitted. "I failed quite a few times granted, but I never planned on giving up seeing as that would defeat the point of starting the training in the first place."

"I'm impressed Seifer." Quistis smiled surreptitiously. "That was almost profound."

Seifer didn't even bother with a reply as they continued onwards through the cavern. There were several monsters that made it their home but fortunately very few were much of a threat. Seifer and Quistis had gone less than thirty metres in when they were dive bombed by a pair of Red Bats, evidently hoping to suck their blood. Quistis dropped one with a single blow from her whip before she hung back to watch Seifer. Seifer knew Red Bats were adept fliers, but they were very bad at turning. He unsheathed the Hyperion and thrust it straight out. Unable to turn in time the Red Bat attacking him hit the point at nearly sixty miles an hour, impaling itself. Seifer shook it off and sheathed his weapon. He turned to Quistis and cracked a smile.

"I'm so good I scare myself." He cackled.

"Don't go getting too confident Seifer." Quistis cautioned him. "Red Bats are one thing, Ifrit is another. If you don't take him seriously he might rip your arms off for you."

The next monster they encountered was one of the more infamous ones, a Bomb. Bombs essentially resembled a diabolical, floating pumpkin lantern with arms and an affinity for anything remotely pyrotechnical.

Seifer regarded the Bomb warily. They were infamous for swelling the enormous size and then exploding due to the volatile mixes of gases and fluids stored in their bodies. There had never been a recorded case of a Bomb killing someone by exploding in Balamb but it only had to happen once. While Seifer was processing these thoughts the Bomb spun through the air and hit him full in the head and chest. He hit a rock like the proverbial ton of bricks but got right back up and swung his gun blade in an arc, keeping the Bomb at bay.

"Seifer!" Quistis shouted before the blade on the end of Quistis' whip embedded itself in the Bomb's back. It spun on her incensed. Seifer grabbed a slab of stone and brought it down on the top of the Bomb, snapping it in two. The Bomb retaliated by utilising magic and Seifer was blown off his feet by a fire spell. He hit the ground, clothes smoking slightly.

"Okay!" He shouted. "Now you've really pissed me off."

Quistis looked over at Seifer who raised his gun blade and charged. The Bomb saw him coming and dodged his swing. He'd been expecting it and he pivoted before sweeping the Hyperion up and instantly amputating the Bombs left arm. The severed appendage hit the ground and burst into flames while the Bomb shrieked in pain and batted Seifer aside with its intact arm.

"Oi you!" Quistis yelled before tossing a fist sized rock at the Bomb. It hit the bomb and exploded and while the burst of fire didn't bother the Bomb the shockwave knocked it back several metres. It throbbed enraged. In its eyes the whole world was conspiring against it. The throbbing intensified and suddenly Quistis was very aware of what was about to happen.

"Oh shit." If the blast was powerful, then the odds were good it might bring a substantial chunk of the ceiling in on them at best, and collapse the entire cave at worst. So Quistis took the only course of action open to her. She cast a Water spell on the Bomb.

The Bomb was suddenly engulfed in a massive bubble and at that point it exploded, knocking Quistis off her feet. Seifer nodded impressed albeit reluctantly by the manoeuvre. It was also not unpleasing to look at, a fireworks display in a bubble. The shockwave may have knocked Quistis down and punched a crater about half a metre across in the ground but by and large the cave remained intact.

"Nice move." Seifer said reluctantly as he extended a hand to Quistis and pulled her to her feet.

"Wow Seifer," Quistis said as she dusted herself off. "Did I just hear a compliment?"

"Well you do have your moments when you could be a useful person to have around." Seifer shrugged. "Don't worry Quistis, they're few and far between now why don't we get this over with, what do you say?"

Quistis shook her head and followed Seifer further into the cavern. She hung back more than she would've done back when Seifer was still a pupil. In her personal opinion Seifer didn't have anything to prove, as he'd already dealt with jobs that most SeeD's wouldn't have dreamed of. He'd escaped from the infamously "inescapable" Screamer Mountain, fought Squall Leonhart to the death and walked away, not to mention the daily ins and outs of living in a building full of people who hated his guts. That said, she could understand Seifer wanted to become a SeeD officially because, in spite of his numerous battle honours he was still what could be called an "outside contractor".

After about half an hour they reached the deepest part of the cavern. In the middle of a vaguely circular area surrounded by roiling rivers of lava there was some sort of deep pit, like the crater of a volcano which shone with an almost unearthly orange light. Seifer exchanged a look with Quistis and loosened the quick release on his gun blade sheath.

"This is it." Quistis said before backing up slightly. "The important thing is don't panic. Ifrit won't set out to kill or maim you. Don't do anything rash." Quistis' mouth fell open as Seifer produced a grenade, popped the pin and tossed it into the pit without missing a beat. "Like that." Quistis finished. A few seconds of silence followed that were suddenly punctuated by an explosion and then a deafening roar. An enormous shape leapt out of the pit and landed in front of Seifer before letting loose another roar that made Quistis take a hasty step back. Seifer on the other hand was unruffled.

"Hi!" He said with a jaunty wave. "I'm Seifer and you are?"

Ifrit the Demon lord of the Flames was huge, between three and four Seifer's height and, he probably weighed around ten times as much. He stood on thick, tree trunk sized, heavily muscled legs. Ifrit's chest was massive, at least six feet wide and powerful muscles stood out like whipcords all over his body. Also powerfully built were his thick shoulders, as wide around as Seifer's chest, along with Ifrit's mighty biceps and forearms. His fingers and toes were tipped with black claws, and his hide was a dark brown, as if cooked by the hellish flames the Guardian Force commanded. His growling visage looked like that of a hell-spawned lion or panther, and a pair of huge, slender black horns rose from the top of his head and curved back, extending out nearly ten feet. Before Seifer could pull yet another example of inappropriate "battlefield humour" out the bag Ifrit backhanded him with shocking speed.

Seifer was lifted off his feet by the blow and thrown backwards to slam into a rock wall. There was no time to dwell on the pain as Seifer had to roll aside to avoid Ifrit's next attack. Ifrit's clenched fist punched into the rock where Seifer had been half a second previously, almost singlehandedly demolishing the wall. Seifer leapt to his feet and whipped out the Hyperion. Ifrit kicked out at him but Seifer stabbed him in the ankle before pulling the trigger. Usually that would be enough to sever the affected limb but as Seifer wrenched the Hyperion free the wound sealed over.

"Holy shit." Seifer muttered.

Ifrit slapped Seifer across the head open handed. While the blow was like the sky falling on his head Seifer somehow remained conscious. He was knocked to the floor and Ifrit leapt into the air before descending, both massive feet pointed at Seifer. Quistis started to shout a warning but she needn't have bothered as Seifer rolled aside. Ifrit started to try and stomp him but Seifer rolled out of the way before breaking away and leaping to his feet Hyperion at the ready. Ifrit charged at Seifer but instead of dodging or retreating Seifer went to meet him head on. Quistis' mouth fell open as she watched. Incredible as it looked Seifer was seemingly intent on going toe to toe with Ifrit. As they met Ifrit slashed at Seifer with both claws. Seifer ducked under the blows and dived between his legs. The Hyperion flashed left and right, cutting a deep wound across the back off each knee. These wounds took considerably longer to heal over than the first cut Seifer had inflicted.

Ifrit spun on Seifer who immediately saw that instead of weakening the Guardian Force he'd succeeded in making Ifrit very angry. Before Seifer could even prepare to defend himself Ifrit dug into his many abilities and decided to cast a Flare spell on Seifer. In spite of the fact that Flare was little more than a glorified Firaga spell it was sufficient to blow Seifer off his feet and send him crashing to the ground like a bag of potatoes. There he remained, smoke rising from his body. Ifrit thundered towards him, roaring in victory but before he could rip Seifer limb from limb a distraction presented itself. With a crack, Quistis managed to wrap the end of her whip around Ifrit's left ankle halting him in his tracks. Ifrit whirled around but Quistis had a few tricks up her sleeve, especially a certain Blue Magic spell. Ifrit bellowed in totally justified pain as Quistis launched a stream of Aqua Breath his way. He staggered backwards and Quistis took the opportunity to cast a Cure spell on Seifer. Technically she wasn't supposed to be able to help but she wasn't going to stand by and let Ifrit send Seifer to a hospital or a morgue. Ifrit had already demonstrated attacks that Quistis had never seen him exhibit before, even against Squall, ergo he must have judged Seifer to be remarkably strong.

Before Quistis could attack the wounded Guardian Force something flashed across Quistis' field of vision and hit Ifrit square in the chest. She looked over to see Seifer standing facing Ifrit. Quistis looked over at Ifrit who had been knocked off his feet and realised Seifer had thrown the Hyperion at him. Seifer then pulled out his automatic pistol and charging towards Ifrit opened fire. The heavy bullets slammed into Ifrit allowing to Seifer to leap into the air and get a hand to the Hyperion's grip. Then he pulled the trigger and Ifrit roared as the shockwave ripped through him.

"I'll have this back if it's perfectly okay with you." Seifer snarled before pressing his feet against Ifrit's chest and pushing off with all his strength. The gun blade was wrenched from Ifrit's chest (Seifer giving it an extra twist as it came) and Seifer gracefully back flipped to land on his feet. He grinned at Quistis.

"You won't believe how long it took me to learn that." He announced cheerfully before raising the Hyperion and preparing to meet Ifrit again.

Ifrit charged towards Seifer, murder in his eyes. Seifer had suspected that the his opponent would be a lot less secure now, but apparently the rule that anger could overcome a great deal of pain applied to Guardian Forces. Seifer backed up until his back was against a rock and he pulled out a flash bang grenade and popping the pin tossed it directly in Ifrit's face. The grenade exploded literally inches from Ifrit's face with a deafening crack and blinding flash. The Guardian Force, having lived his long life in a cave was totally unable to deal with this and he reeled back with an unearthly shriek, clawing at the hated light as if it was a solid enemy. Seifer smiled and then charged forwards like jet, propelled attitude with a gun blade. He unleashed a ferocious assault on Ifrit who fell back under a barrage of fast, accurate cuts that forced him to his knees before the pit he emerged from. Seifer however wasn't renowned for showing mercy. Quistis watched open mouthed as Seifer finally finished the Guardian Force with another whirlwind bombardment. Ifrit held his hands up in submission and Seifer finally lowered his gun blade before turning away. Then on an afterthought he spun and honoured Ifrit with a savage upwards kick under the chin. As the humbled Guardian Force returned to his pit Seifer turned to Quistis.

"Well that was fun." He said as if this was an everyday occurrence. He sheathed his gun blade and headed back the way they'd come. "I'm going to go and get a burger. If you ask nicely I'll buy you one."

* * *

**Thank you to Miss Phoenix for her review. I hope you'll continue to read and review and I hope to hear from any others soon. Don't be shy. I appreciate all reviews regardless of opinion, content or standpoint. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Presidential Palace**

Squall was crouched, and had been for the last hour, behind a dustbin fifty feet from the entrance to the Esthar Presidential Palace. He figured that breaking in and making his way to the Military Intelligence department was as good a way as any to find out Alexander's location seeing as Esthar Intelligence did tend to know everything about everyone. He'd simply been observing the building looking for weak points. If he was seen inside Laguna and Ellone could be relied upon to freak out, throw a full scale shit pit and lock the entire building down. Squall wasn't about to walk up to the entrance and ask the guards nicely to let him in. If they were even remotely interested in current affairs they'd recognise him and ensure Laguna and Ellone knew at once. Squall was not ready for a tearful reunion just yet.

As the private residence of the President and the hub for the Estharian Government as a whole the Presidential Palace was pretty much impregnable. Cameras filmed every inch of the grounds and a small army of soldiers patrolled the building, backed up by sharpshooters and mentally unstable guard dogs. As Squall watched a truck for some sort of energy company pulled into the grounds and drove past the guards who waved it through. This particular energy company had a distinctive logo emblazoned on the side of the truck. Bold red lettering spelled out the name and there was a faithful image of an engineer standing next to the words. Squall stared at the truck as it drove out of sight. In one glorious flash of inspiration there it was. It was unconventional, maybe outright crazy but the more Squall thought about it the more he was sure it would work. He would just have to hope he could find a fancy dress shop in the city.

Several hours later another truck from the very same energy company turned into the Presidential Palace grounds again. Occupying it were a couple of technicians that were called in to fix a few glitches in the electrical supply. The guards took a quick look in the back before waving the truck on. It pulled into the underground car park and the technician got out and headed for the lift, one laughing at a crude joke the other had made. Once they had left, the car park was silent and unmoving.

If anyone had passed however, they would have seen a remarkable thing. On the side of the truck the picture of the engineer turned its head. At least that's what it would've have looked. Had the passer-by looked more closely, they would've realised there were two figures on the truck. One was painted; while the other was a real person, clinging impossibly to the metal panelling in exactly the same position as the picture underneath.

Squall dropped to the ground. The muscles in his arms and legs were screaming and he wondered how much longer he would have been able to hold on. He'd headed into the city and bought four powerful magnets and straps to secure them to his arms and legs and anchor himself in place. He quickly pulled off the engineer suit he had bought in the city, rolled it up and stuffed it into a bin. He had been in plain sight of the guards as the truck drove through the gate, but the guards hadn't looked too closely. They had expected to see a figure next to the letters on the side of the truck and that was what they had seen. For once they had been wrong to believe their own eyes.

Squall pulled his gun blade off his back and checked it. In an unforgiveable lapse of security there were no camera in the underground car park but Squall kept low as he dashed towards the lifts. One lift opened and a maid and soldier stepped out. Squall dived behind Laguna's armour plated limousine and watched them. The pair seemed to be having some sort of affair. As they moved in for a kiss Squall stood up and cast a Sleep spell on them. They were snoring before they hit the floor. Squall grabbed them and dragged them out of sight before stepping into the elevator. He pressed the button for the twenty fifth floor. He didn't want to encounter anyone getting into the lift so he reached up and using the butt of his gun blade smashed one of the panels in the lifts ceiling loose. He climbed through it and then placed the panel back in its original position. The lift began to rise quickly. Squall shook his head and laughed quietly.

_The security in this place is a joke. _He thought. _Once I'm through with Alexander, I'm going to have to report it._

Squall looked around in order to determine his next move. If he could get into the corridors it would be a simple matter to make his way to the intelligence services offices. Squall quickly spotted an opening in the wall of the lift shaft that he guessed led to the air vents so he leapt off the top of the elevator and grabbed another set of lift cables. Then he slid down ten or so metres until he was level with the opening. Tensing himself and painfully aware of the fact that he'd die if he misjudged this Squall leapt for the opening.

It was a perfect jump and his arms went straight into the opening. Squall quickly pulled the rest of his body into the air vent. It was pitch dark so Squall dug into his jeans and pulled out a silver Zippo cigarette lighter. Squall didn't smoke but he carried a lighter anyway simply because you could never know when you needed one. He started to crawl through the vents, taking care not to make any noise.

"Christ, now I know how a TV dinner feels." He grumbled as he pulled himself forwards.

After about twenty minutes Squall came across a grate and by the bright light shining through it he guessed that it led into the corridors of the Presidential Palace properly. He extinguished the lighter and lay in the dark listening intently as he didn't want to crawl out of an air vent into a conference room where the Esthar Government was having a meeting. He caught brief snatches of people's conversation but guessed they were moving along the corridor. Squall pulled out his knife and using it as a makeshift screwdriver he unscrewed the grate and pulled it aside. He quickly stuck his head through to check the coast was clear before sliding quickly out of the vent, pulling the grate back into place as he went.

A door opened at the far end of the corridor and a soldier appeared but he was looking back into the room from which he'd appeared and he didn't see Squall hare towards a broom cupboard, yank the door open and jump inside. Squall gave the soldier ninety seconds before opening the door and chancing a glance. The corridor was empty again. Squall exited the broom cupboard but he took a broom with it and slid it through the door handles at one end of the corridor, making a makeshift bar. Then he sprinted to the end of the corridor and yanked the door open.

The room was empty aside from a single soldier wearing the insignia of Palace Security. Squall knew that the Palace Guards were handpicked from Esthar Special Forces and they were a match for nearly anyone so he had to act quickly. The soldier grabbed a radio from his belt as Squall lunged forward. His flying boot impacted solidly with the soldier's guts, sending him crashing to the ground and robbing him off his powers of speech. Then he bopped the soldier on the head with the hilt of his gun blade, laying him out senseless. He quickly used the cable from a desk lamp to tie the soldier's hands and feet together before gagging him and dumping him inside a store cupboard. He also helped himself to the soldier's radio and several key cards.

Next Squall came to a staircase with a large number 22 on the wall. Squall knew that the intelligence department was on the fortieth floor so he started climbing the stairs keeping alert for anyone who might expose his presence. Squall was single minded and focused on getting actionable intelligence on Alexander but he didn't want to kill anyone to get it. He would only use lethal force if he had to. Fortunately he didn't meet anyone on the staircase. Apparently there weren't very many people in this part of the palace. He stopped at the door leading to the fortieth floor and paused to compose himself. The first room he came to was a long corridor with several doors along the walls. They all looked as if they needed key cards. Squall started chancing quick glances through the windows on the doors. The first four rooms he checked were occupied but the fifth was darkened with no sign of life. Squall started checking the key cards he'd taken from the guard. He guessed that the wrong one would probably trigger an alarm but he had very few options. Squall readied his gun blade and slid a random card into the slot.

Whatever higher power was guiding Squall it was clearly smiling on him as the red light above the slot winked out to be replaced by a green one, as well as the tell-tale clunk of the door unlocking. Squall opened the door and stepped into the darkened office. Instead of flipping on the light he flicked the lighter and after checking the room for cameras and finding none he crossed to the desk and fired up the computer. Before he could do anything a message box popped up demanding a password. Squall wasn't unduly worried by this. Esthar and Garden intelligence frequently shared secrets and the top level clearance Squall had allowed him to view any file. He tapped in his password, hoping that Esthar Intelligence hadn't bothered revoking it after his death. They hadn't. Squall immediately ran a search for the name Alexander Obsidian on the Esthar Intelligence database.

"Displaying one through ten of one million, nine hundred and fifty thousand results." Squall frowned. He wondered how to narrow this down before he was hit by a flash of inspiration. He immediately ran a search on Battleship Island followed by the date of his death. He clicked on the first result and after entering his password he was able to view the file. His eyes were caught by the name Alexander Obsidian which was underlined and highlighted in blue. Squall clicked on the name but before he could read the file his entire plan blew up in his face.

The office door opened and the light was flipped on. Then, to Squall's everlasting horror Ellone walked in.

* * *

It was late afternoon when Quistis and Seifer returned to Balamb Garden after heading into Balamb for a meal to replenish all the energy they'd burned fighting various monsters and Ifrit. Quistis was fairly sure that the Garden Faculty Seifer had knocked out would lodge a complaint but Quistis outranked them and she'd promised herself that she'd "forget" to punish Seifer. After all, he hadn't been a SeeD or cadet when he'd made the assault. As they parked their motorcycles and took off their helmets Quistis turned to Seifer.

"I'll have to report to Cid and Xu." She said. "Until then, you've got some free time. If I were you I'd make yourself presentable."

Seifer watched her walk off before allowing himself a satisfied smile. He wasn't entirely sure he'd made the grade but common sense told him it was looking good. For one thing he wasn't dead. Secondly Ifrit had clearly submitted to him. Third Quistis had just let slip that it might be a good idea to make himself presentable. He wouldn't need to do that if they were going to chuck him out on his ear. Seifer chuckled and headed to his room for a shower and change of clothes. Most of his clothes were quite scorched aside from the crusaders trench coat that seemed to magically repel dirt and wear. He pulled the jacket off and reverently hung it on a hanger inside his wardrobe. The clothes beneath it were clearly beyond repair.

As Seifer undressed his attention was caught by a photograph on his bedside table. It had been taken at the Obsidian ball with several attendees in their best glad rags. Left to right, the photo showed Quistis, Seifer himself, Alice, Swift, Dante, Adrian, Nina, Edea, Alexander and Gaston. Seifer's attention was grabbed by Dante. As far as he knew, no one in Garden had seen hide or hair of him since he'd left. You'd be hard put to get him to admit it but Seifer privately admitted that he missed Dante who had been one of the best friends he'd ever had, up there with Fujin and Raijin. Seifer shook his head and sighed. He hadn't seen the other members of the posse since the Lunatic Pandora and now Dante had disappeared on him. Seifer laughed bitterly. He'd never understood Squall's pathological need to distance himself from everyone and anyone, but that was beginning to change somewhat.

If Seifer was really honest with himself he felt slightly depressed. The old orphanage gang was really beginning to come apart. Selphie and Irvine, despite having a child together had broken up, and Zell and Irvine had been posted to Galbadia Garden. Quistis was a vampire and Squall was dead. Who would've thought a group of misfits like them would've grown up to become who they were. Seifer stepped into the shower and allowed the warm water to run over him. Hopefully it might wash away his problems.

After about ten minutes Seifer stepped out of his shower and after putting on fresh underwear he decided to don a cadet uniform. It might as well look like he'd made an effort. He was contemplating heading to the infirmary to get a couple of burns he'd sustained fighting Ifrit looked at when a message came over the intercom.

"Could Seifer Almasy report to the Headmasters office please?" The politely synthesised voice said. "Repeat; could Seifer Almasy report to the Headmasters office please?"

A few minutes later Seifer stood in front of the door psyching himself up to knock. He didn't mind admitting he was nervous. One way or another, when he left this office again he'd know which way his immediate future was going to go. Not to mention one of the people in control of his life, Xu to be exact, would quite like to see him drop dead of syphilis. Seifer hated not being in control of his life but he would just have to suck it up this time. He rapped on the door.

"Come," Cid called before smiling as Seifer entered, trying to look adequately respectful. "Seifer, take a seat."

"Thank you sir." Seifer said sitting down in front of the desk. Xu and Quistis were as usual standing at Cid's shoulders with their hands clasped behind their backs. Seifer tried to read their expressions but neither woman was giving anything away.

"Quistis tells me that you managed to defeat Ifrit." Cid smiled at Seifer. "She also tells me that Ifrit used more power on you than any other cadet she knows of, including Squall. That tells us that Ifrit judged you to be immensely strong. We knew that already though."

"So does that mean I've made it back in sir?" Seifer asked trying to keep his voice neutral.

"It's not quite that simple." Cid said. "Xu and I needed to be convinced of your desire to return here and train to become a SeeD. You've dressed in a cadet uniform, addressed me as sir and you haven't tried to antagonise Xu yet. So I'd say it's looking pretty good."

"What can I do or say to convince you sir?" Seifer asked, fording his exasperation under control. "What do you want?"

"Staff in Garden demand a certain amount of respect from the cadets." Cid said evenly. "You will be obliged to adhere to that code regardless of your personal feeling towards any staff. Zell is still at Galbadia Garden but he will come back sooner or later. Luckily, there is someone in Balamb Garden right now who hates you equally."

Seifer shot a glance at Xu who returned with a look burning with hostility and badly concealed contempt.

"Will all due respect sir," Seifer asked quietly, returning his gaze to Cid. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm asking for a lack of open hostility between you and Xu." Cid announced pleasantly. "It's your choice Seifer. Stand up and shake hands with Xu otherwise we may have to talk about what exactly to do with you. Have a look at this." He drew a piece of paper from an envelope with a flourish and handed it to Seifer.

"This is…"

"You original arrest warrant, updated to include your escape from Screamer Mountain." Cid clarified. "We could send you back there." Seifer couldn't stand up quick enough. He met Xu's gaze again and extended his hand to her. Asking them to shake hands sounded liked something you would ask a couple of five year olds to do but Seifer understood the point Cid was trying to make. For a handful of seconds Xu didn't move but eventually she reached out and clasped Seifer's hand before letting go before they got anywhere near shaking.

"Satisfied, Headmaster?" Xu asked Cid who rolled his eyes heavenwards, no doubt wondering what he'd done to deserve such a difficult life.

"I suppose that will have to do." Cid said before handing Seifer an envelope. "This is your timetable and other documents you'll need. You'll start on next Monday. Until then I suggest you endeavour to stay out of trouble. Welcome back, Cadet Almasy. Dismissed."

"So," Quistis said after Seifer had saluted and marched out of the office. "Who's going to tell Zell about this?"

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ellone demanded before she even realised who was sitting at the desk. She stepped forwards and her jaw practically hit the floor when Squall stood up at the same moment. "You?"

"Hello Ellone." Squall said simply before stepping around the desk and stopping less than a metre away from her. "I going to go out on a limb and say you weren't expecting to see me here."

"It's not every day you see your dead step brother turn up in the very place you work." Ellone said faintly.

"You work here?" Squall asked incredulously. _Of all the offices I could've picked…why did it have to belong to one of the people I was most worried about running into?_

"Laguna got me a job as an intern." Ellone said, still knocked for six and sounding as if a Wendigo had just punched her in the face. "Do you really think that's what we should be talking about?"

"Fair point." Squall nodded before dashing forwards and catching Ellone as her knees gave way and she passed out. He held her up before hefting her in a fireman's lift and carrying her over to a couch by the window. Squall set her down and contemplated leaving her here and making a run for it. He quickly dismissed this idea as Ellone would immediately run to Laguna and the whole of Esthar would be on the lookout for him. Squall was an excellent SeeD operative but he couldn't hide from three hundred million people. Not to mention news like his resurrection would travel like wildfire and reach the ears of the Obsidian family and Balamb Garden. So far only Swift knew he was alive and Squall wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. He looked down to see Ellone stirring so Squall pulled out a hipflask and gently pulled Ellone into a sitting position. He handed her the hip flask.

"No thanks." Ellone waved it away before gazing at Squall's face. "Is it really you?"

"Have a drink." Squall said, forcing the hip flask under her nose. "It'll keep you calm and I need you to be clam so I can explain. There are things I need to talk to you about."

"You're too fucking right there are." Ellone barked leaping upright. "I don't know who put you up to this but you'd better leave. You're not my brother, even if you are him, if you don't leave right now I'll…"

"Ellone!" Squall shouted, cutting her off in mid flow. "Have a drink to calm down so I can explain."

"How is this possible?" Ellone gasped after she'd taken two large mouthfuls of bourbon. "How are you here?"

"I don't know." Squall admitted. "My main theory is that someone performed a resurrection spell, but as for who I don't know. Listen Ellone, I know this is difficult for you but I am begging you, please do not tell anyone you've seen me."

"You can't ask me that." Ellone protested. "Laguna and Rinoa at the very least need to know. I can't keep this from them. It's wrong."

"I couldn't agree more." Squall nodded. "Believe me, I will tell them eventually but for now, them knowing that I'm alive will just complicate matters. I've got an important and dangerous agenda of my own and I don't need any distractions. You know I'm back and I can't help that but please Ellone, keep this to yourself."

"What's this agenda of your own?" Ellone demanded. "You should at least tell me that."

"You're better off not knowing trust me." Squall told her. "I know I'm asking a lot of you but I wouldn't do this to you if there was any other way. My job hinges on surprise and you know Laguna, he's not exactly discreet. Actually, the whole surprise thing might've failed already but I can't risk it."

"We need to tell someone." Ellone protested. "I won't tell Laguna but someone needs to know about this."

"Who do you suggest?" Squall asked. The look on Ellone's face told him she wasn't about to be moved on the subject.

"We should tell Kiros." Ellone said. "He'll know what to do and he can keep a secret. You'll have to convince him it's for the best but he's the right kind of guy for this sort of situation."

"Kiros?" Squall mused before nodding. "I guess it'll be okay to talk to him. He strikes me as a pretty together guy. Call him down here but make sure he doesn't tell anyone where he's going, especially not Ward or Laguna."

Ellone walked over to the desk and picking up her phone dialled the number for Kiros' office. While she asked Kiros to come down to her office Squall observed his step-sister. The fact that she'd barely questioned if he really was Squall or an impostor was a mark of her mental strength. It wasn't quite the tearful reunion Squall had imagined but as far as he was concerned Ellone had taken the sudden reappearance of her dead step-brother remarkably well. After a couple of minutes Ellone hung up and turned back to Squall.

"He's on his way." She said. "Don't take it personally if he seems a bit brusque. I think I caught him in bed with his wife."

"Kiros is married?" Squall exclaimed in surprise. "What else happened while I was gone?"

"Uncle Laguna has been getting back out there." Ellone said. "He met this woman at Kiros wedding. It didn't quite work out but we're all agreed that it's progress. I'll have to update you on everything but I think we should talk to Kiros first okay?"

"I've got no problem with that." Squall figured he was in no position to dictate the tone of this "meeting".

"Okay, Ellone." Kiros grumbled as he stepped into the office wearing a pale yellow towelling robe. "What's so damn important?" Then he saw Squall and while he didn't pass out like Ellone had, he grabbed the desk for support.

"Hey Kiros, long time no see." Squall said dryly. "Nice robe."

"I have to call Laguna." Kiros gasped before reaching for the phone. Before he could lift it Ellone snatched it out of reach. "What are you playing at?"

"Kiros believe me it's a better idea to keep this between ourselves." Squall explained calmly. "Nothing would give me greater satisfaction to let Laguna know that his son is not dead anymore but now is not the time. I'm guessing Laguna will have grieved and moved on. I don't want to open up any old wounds unless I have to."

"What about Ellone?" Kiros shouted, dangerously close to complete loss of control. "How do you justify coming to see her and not Laguna?"

"I came here to get some information." Squall said. "The original plan was to get in and out without anyone knowing I was here but sometimes plans don't translate smoothly to real life. I was searching your database when Ellone walks in."

"Searching out databases for what exactly?" Kiros enquired icily.

"He's not being particularly specific about what exactly he's up to." Ellone supplied helpfully.

"Oh he'll tell me." Kiros growled ominously. "If you want me to keep what I've seen in here to myself Squall I suggest you give me some information. Call it buying my silence. Otherwise, you'll have to kill me."

"Fair enough." Squall crossed the room and closed the door. "What do you two know about what happened to me in the build-up to the operation on Battleship Island in which I was killed."

"Quistis gave us the cliff notes." Kiros said. "Apparently an ancient vampire named Alexander Obsidian removed your soul and turned you into a remorseless killing machine devoid of humanity or compassion. How am I doing so far?"

"That's pretty much it." Squall nodded. "Well now that I'm back, with my soul back where it belongs I think some payback is in order. Hopefully, Alexander doesn't know I'm alive and I should be able to use the element of surprise to get even."

"There's a catch isn't there?" Kiros guessed shrewdly.

"Swift Obsidian knows I'm alive." Squall replied. "It doesn't take much a leap of imagination to think he might tell Alexander, thus blowing the element of surprise completely out of the water. So I may need help."

"Meaning?" Ellone asked.

"I think I need the help of someone who's faced both Swift and Alexander and live to talk about it." Squall forced a smile that simply made him look like he had lockjaw. "I'm going to need the help of one Dante Skyle."

* * *

**Thanks once again to MissPhoenix18 who's given me my only reviews thus far. Keep 'em coming my friend and I hope to hear from anyone else who's reading this soon. You guys keep me going.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Continuance**

Dante and Nina were still searching high and low for any trace of Alexander Obsidian to absolutely no avail. Esthar was a pretty big place to search but they'd been so thorough and methodical it was a minor miracle that the tell-tale clue had eluded them. Dante sighed in annoyance, ran a hand down his face and briefly contemplated pumping a nearby dustbin full of lead, as if that would help.

"Can I ask something that's been niggling at me?" Nina asked as she sat down on a bench and blew a lock of hair away from her right eye.

"I daresay you'll find you can." Dante replied dully as he leant against a wall and hit the bottle, or hip flask as the case was. "Whether or not I'll actually answer remains to be seen."

"You've spent your whole life, or near enough hating Swift and Alexander, not to mention dreaming up elaborate ways to kill them." Nina began. "Let's just say for arguments sake you do manage to kill them. What then? You'll have used up all your revenge and the one thing that's kept you alive all these years will be gone. What will you do?"

"I'll simply go about living my eternal life as far away from you as possible." Dante replied acidly.

"Tremendously convincing." Nina chuckled humourlessly. "I am many things Dante, but stupid is not one of them. You and I both know that if you kill them, and that's a big if, you'll simply lose all direction and purpose in life. You know what they say. Before you embark on a journey of revenge you should dig two graves."

"Don't try and preach to me." Dante shot back. "It doesn't suit you. Anyway, if you've got such a bleak outlook on revenge why are you helping me exact it?"

"Maybe I just wanted to spend some posthumous bonding time with my darling husband." Nina smirked. "It's no secret I want Alexander dead but it's not revenge that's driving me. It's self-preservation. I'm looking out for number one. It's what I do."

"Well you play to your strengths as a manipulative, self-centred vampire I'll give you that." Dante shrugged before his voice softened and even with his rigid control he was unable to totally remove all traces of pain and loss from his voice. "What happened to you?"

"I died." Nina replied matter-of-factly. "I got over it and maybe you should as well. It's starting you make you look old."

"You didn't die." Dante muttered, regarding her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Alexander murdered my wife and replaced her with you, so I've got yet another reason to go after him." With that Dante spun around and stalked off down the street without a backwards glance.

"How poetic." Nina muttered before standing up and following Dante. She knew that any hope of reconciliation was out of the question but she still had a job to do, and whatever else Nina was, she was never one for leaving a job unfinished. She jogged to catch up Dante and they continued down the street side by side, looking for all the world like any other young couple wandering the streets.

"If I forget for a minute that I wouldn't trust you with a chocolate bar there's just one thing I have to know." Dante said evenly. "When we find Alexander, and believe me we will can I trust you to come down on my side?"

"I'm tired of running from him." Nina said. "I've worn down too many pairs of heels. Don't think I'm missing the sub text Dante. You think because I slept with him I might feel a little conflicted."

"Do you?"

"What Alexander and I had was purely sexual." Nina replied. "We couldn't have cared less about each other. If I ignore the fact that thinking this way is entirely against my nature, the world would be a better place without him in it." Nina frowned as Dante chuckled slightly. "What are you laughing at?"

"You." Dante said bluntly. "You say you're helping me out of self-preservation but you're smart enough to know that this path will probably get us both killed. That renders you whole "look after number one" mission statement pretty redundant."

"I know that." Nina said. "I'm not afraid of death because it's coming and there's precisely squat I can do about it. People think vampires are immortal but there's no way we're truly immortal. Everyone has to die eventually, and no amount of fangs or a high iron diet will change that."

"I'm impressed Nina." Dante allowed himself a smile. "That was almost profound."

"Don't lie to the girl Dante." A horribly familiar voice said, right behind them. "Honesty costs nothing."

Nina and Dante spun around to see none other than Swift Obsidian standing less than ten feet away, regarding them with smile. Dante exchanged a shocked look with Nina who turned to Swift.

"I've got no quarrel with you Swift." She said. "So if you're going to rip Dante apart leave me out of it."

"I've been following you for the last ninety minutes." Swift answered. "You two have banded together with a view to killing my brother and I regret to inform you unless you give it up here and now that makes you both fair game."

"Sorry Swift, but it's never going to happen." Dante growled.

"I expected that of a barbarian of your calibre Dante." Swift said it almost sadly, as if he'd expected nothing better. He turned his attention to Nina. "What about you my dear?"

"As Dante goes, so goes my nation." Nina said her voice trembling somewhat.

"You pick now to understand the concept of marital loyalty?" Dante exclaimed incredulously before he turned his gaze back to Swift. "I was going to kill you after your rage-a-holic brother, but seeing as you're here now…"

"I suggest you think very carefully about picking a fight with me." Swift informed him frostily. "You've outlived your usefulness Dante, so believe me I have absolutely no qualms about ripping your head and drinking from your brain stem."

"Save the routine Swift I've heard it all before." Dante grinned bloodthirstily. "Check the score line. There's two of us and one of you."

"Walk away Dante." Swift said but Dante refused to move. Even more surprisingly Nina didn't move either, instead she pulled a hatchet from her belt and readied it while Dante loosened the quick release on his sword sheath. Swift sighed resignedly and pulled a weapon from inside his jacket.

It was a gun blade. Sleek and deadly, it bore characteristics of the weapons wielded by Seifer Almasy and Squall Leonhart. The hilt bore slightly more ornate features than those of the Hyperion, and slightly less of the Lion Heart's. The hilt looked as if it was designed to be wielded by two hands but Swift held it easily in one hand. He rested it on his shoulder, the flat of the night black, single edged blade resting against his face. He shifted his weight from foot to foot before charging straight at Dante.

* * *

On the other side of the planet, Balamb Garden's cadets most proficient in combat were training on the Alcauld Plains. The close quarter's specialists had paired off while the few that wielded firearms were a few hundred metres away firing down a makeshift firing range. They were being observed by Talon who was taking more than a fleeting interest in one pair in particular.

Seifer hit the ground and rolled, the blade of a halberd digging into the ground he'd occupied. Seifer completed his roll and sprang explosively to his feet. His opponent responded by swinging the halberd around in a horizontal sweep that would've seriously wounded Seifer at the very least had he not thrown himself backwards.

Seifer had been taken to the Training Centre and secretly filmed so the Garden staff could decide which class to put him in based on his combat proficiency. He'd bisected one Grat, incinerated another and electrocuted a third by throwing it into an electric fence all in seventeen seconds so he was immediately put into the top class.

Seifer countered a thrust and attempted to turn the halberd aside. It worked but his opponent spun with his weapon and brought it around at neck height causing Seifer to duck. He then quickly reversed the move and forced Seifer to jump over it as it hissed through the air at leg height. Seifer thrust forwards but his adversary knocked the Hyperion high and caught Seifer around the neck with the hook on his weapon. Seifer responded by kicking his opponent in the ribs, winding him before ducking out of the hook and bringing the Hyperion into play with shocking speed. He disarmed his wheezing opponent with a quick flick before taking his legs from under him and leaving him sprawled on the grass, his blade tip hovering at the cadet's throat. After a handful of seconds Seifer sheathed the Hyperion before offering the cadet a hand up. The cadet hesitated briefly before taking it.

"You're too strong for me." The cadet observed massaging his ribs as he retrieved his weapon. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"From years of fighting a certain rival of mine." Seifer replied offhandedly. "You shouldn't sell yourself short though. You evidently know how to handle your weapon. You're better than most people I've fought over the last few years."

"Thanks," The cadet said uncertainly, trying to marry the somewhat humble and complimentary cadet with the incarnation of evil he was supposed to be. "The name's Eric, Eric Coates."

"Pleased to meet you Eric Coates," Seifer nodded shaking the offered hand. "I'd introduce myself but I guess you're already aware of whom I am and you're most likely also aware of my colourful resume."

"Colourful isn't the word I'd use," Eric replied frankly. "But I live in the now and what you got up to four years ago is very much about the then. It makes no difference to me."

Quistis approached Talon who was watching impassively as Eric and Seifer squared up to each other once more, before jumping forwards and meeting with a clash of steel, Seifer turning Eric's halberd aside before ducking as Eric aimed a blow at his neck.

"How's he progressing?" Quistis asked Talon.

"Remarkably well." Talon replied. "He's extremely fast and strong and he knows how to handle his weapon. He's a far superior fighter than he was at the age of eighteen. It's hard to not compare him to Squall."

"What say you we compare him against someone else?" Quistis said with an enigmatic smile.

"What do you have in mind?" Talon asked uneasily. "He is still Seifer Almasy and he has a history of not playing particularly well with others. Then there's his pesky overenthusiasm when it comes to violence."

"I think it's merely a question of giving him the right target." Quistis said. "Call a halt. I want to try something."

Talon blew a whistle and the fighting ground to a halt. Quistis stepped forwards and eyed the combatants who were watching her warily. "I'm told you're progressing very well." Quistis then proceeded to wipe the emerging smiles off the cadet's faces. "Very well is insufficient. If we put modesty aside for a moment, how many of you think you could handle a fully qualified SeeD?" A few hands went up. "Cadet Almasy." Quistis went on. "Would you favour us with a demonstration?"

"My hand isn't up Commander." Seifer pointed out; although he had a sneaking suspicion Quistis wouldn't let that technicality put her off.

"I wasn't asking." Quistis said. She uncoiled her rante and cracked it as Seifer who barely blinked. "You're not scared are you?"

The suggestion of cowardice had the desired effect and Seifer charged forwards before leaping into the air and aiming an overhead cut at Quistis. Quistis reacted like lightning and used a section of her rante to block the blade. Seifer reversed his swing and spun it down and around, aiming for her knees. Quistis jumped over it and kicked Seifer under the jaw as she went. Seifer rolled over backwards but sprang back to his feet and aimed a thrust as Quistis' chest that she backed up to avoid. Seifer went after her and Quistis ducked a blow with the Hyperion, feeling it rush past her head. She launched a knife at Seifer who simply used the Hyperion to knock it aside before he leapt forwards, keen to press his growing advantage. His boot impacted solidly with Quistis' stomach and although her muscular abs absorbed the blow in itself the force behind it was enough to take her off her feet.

Quistis rolled aside as the Hyperion dug into the ground and she kicked Seifer in the side as she got back to her feet. Seifer however disregarded the blow and charged towards her, swinging the Hyperion like a man possessed. Quistis cursed as Seifer forced her backwards. She was beginning to think that maybe she'd bitten off more than she could chew. Seifer was fast and strong and it was becoming increasing obvious that picking a fight with him without junctions was not a clever thing to do. She'd guessed that vampire strength and speed would help but Seifer wasn't giving her a chance. He shoved her in the chest and as she staggered backwards he kicked her legs from under her. She hit the ground and rolled over to find Seifer standing over her, the tip of the Hyperion hovering at her throat.

"Give up?" He asked with a cocksure grin that made Quistis' blood boil.

Quistis immediately slapped the blade away from her throat, as one might to a flat stick and lashed out with her rante. The whip caught Seifer's weapon arm and Quistis pulled on it, unbalancing Seifer. She leapt in and grabbing him by the front of his uniform flipped him to the ground. The Hyperion flew out Seifer's grabs and as he crawled towards it Quistis seized his legs and dragged him backwards. He kicked out, trying to get free but Quistis absorbed the blows and flipped Seifer onto his back before leaping on top of him and using her legs to pin his arms to his sides. Then she pulled Seifer's knife from his belt and pressed it against his chest.

"That is why very well is insufficient." Quistis said to the watching cadets. "I expect to see a marked improvement very soon. Class dismissed." As the cadets moved off. Quistis rolled of Seifer and pulled him to his feet. As he picked up the Hyperion he treated Quistis to his most arrogant grin.

"You don't know how long I've waited for you to jump my bones like that." He chuckled provocatively.

"You're not funny Seifer." Quistis said. "You clearly know how to handle yourself. There were times there when I thought I'd bitten off more than I could chew. If we ever branch out into vampire hunting I'd put your name down for it in a heartbeat."

"Don't sell yourself short." Seifer cautioned her, and for once he actually sounded genuinely sincere. "That was a good fight and I had to try a few tricks. It was just good luck that most of them worked. However, my experiences with vampires have convinced me that luck isn't enough."

"There was me thinking that you tended to jump headfirst into combat relying on dumb luck and overwhelming violence to come out on top." Quistis observed.

"Against humans that might actually work." Seifer shrugged. "Vampires are a little more durable. I don't see myself carving out a successful career as a vampire hunter. I'd just end up dead."

"I thought you didn't believe in living a long and fruitful life." Quistis challenged. "Didn't you used to say you'd rather die a thirty five than seventy?"

"I never said that." Seifer shook his head before clarifying. "I said I'd rather live for thirty five years than exist for seventy. There's a massive difference between living and existing."

* * *

Dante came round with the feeling that his head had been twisted off. He sat up, growling with pain as the movement aggravated his injuries. The last thing he remembered was unsheathing his sword as Swift charged towards him. The sword was lying a couple of feet away and Dante grabbed it before returning it to its sheath. He looked round to see Nina seated on a bench nearby. The side of her face had taken on a pretty mauve shade and judging by the way she was sitting she'd suffered bruised ribs and torn intercostal muscles at the very least.

"About time." Nina sneered. "I was beginning to think you'd sleep the whole damn night away."

"I'm fine thank you very much." Dante muttered as he used a dustbin to pull himself to his feet. "What happened?"

"We picked a fight with Swift Obsidian." Nina answered. "He didn't like that much and snapped your neck before giving yours truly quite a kicking. Then he told me to stay away from Alexander before he knocked me out."

"I figured that out funnily enough." Dante growled as he rubbed his neck. "What I'm trying to figure out is why didn't he just kill us? I can't have been our sparking personalities because I've got all the approachability of a psychotic Marlboro while you are, to put it politely, a bitch. So why didn't he kill us?"

"It's a puzzler." Nina agreed. "I'm not going to bother dwelling on how an ancient vampire's mind works. I think we ought to just thank whatever higher power that's guiding us that we're still alive and move on."

"Move on?" Dante repeated, eyeing his wife incredulously. "You're still up for this are you?"

"You sound surprised." Nina smiled.

"I've never been one to allow a beating put me off." Dante explained. "I suppose I thought my darling wife would run for the hills at the first sign of trouble. I have to admire your tenacity."

"Careful Dante," Nina smirked. "If you keep giving me compliments like that. I might think you still love me."

"Behave yourself Nina." Dante growled off as he rotated his head experimentally before stalking off down the street. "Your own mother wouldn't love you."

"Oh Dante," Nina sniggered, putting a melodramatic hand to her chest. "I hurts me when you say things like that."

"You can take it." Dante replied coldly. "I still can't believe you're still up for what could be called a suicide mission."

"You've been out of the loop regarding me for a while." Nina pointed out. "So what makes you think you know the first thing about my comings and goings? Well, to be fair I do remember you having a way with my comings once upon a time."

"Would you let it go?" Dante howled, rapidly nearing the end of his rope. "You're like a dog with a bone!"

"So what?" Nina preened, clearly tickled pink at the profound effect she was having on Dante.

"It's my bone." Dante bit off, determinedly forcing his temper back under control. "Just drop it."

"Alright keep your hair on." Nina chuckled. "I wasn't proposing. Time goes by, a girl gets hungry."

"Oh thank God." Dante said rolling his eyes.

"What?" Nina asked.

"Demon." Dante informed her brightly as a scaled demon with horns and glowing red eyes blindsided Nina and knocked her to the floor with a quarterstaff sharpened at both ends. He raised the weapon with one end aimed directly at Nina's chest.

"The beast says you die!" The demon proclaimed in a dry rustling voice.

"Course he does." Dante said and grabbing the demon by the shoulder spun him around and kicked him in the…bone. As the demon went down molesting himself, Dante seized the opportunity to grab Nina and drag her the hell out of there.

* * *

That same night, Squall and Ellone decided to head out and have a go at locating Dante and enlisting his help with finding and killing Alexander. Squall was armed with the Lion Heart, unsheathed and swinging at his side. He'd also donned a balaclava in order to conceal his identity and stop word of his resurrection getting back to Laguna. He and Ellone were both dressed in lightweight, black ninja wear and Ellone was carrying a rifle loaded with high velocity, explosive rounds. Kiros meanwhile was keeping Laguna and Ward occupied. While they searched Ellone updated Squall on the events after his death. To say the very least Squall wasn't best pleased with some developments.

"A vampire?" Squall exclaimed indignantly. "Quistis was turned into a vampire by her dearly beloved Dante."

"Quistis was mortally wounded on an operation." Ellone explained patiently. "Dante decided that the only way to save Quistis' life was to turn her into a vampire. I've had limited contact with her since but she seems to have taken it remarkably well."

"Yeah well Dante should count himself lucky that I need him alive." Squall grunted. "If I didn't I'd probably have to kill him on principal alone. What about Rinoa? Is she…you know…seeing anyone?"

"Oh no, so not getting in the middle." Ellone said decisively. "If you want to patch things up with her you'll have to do it face to face. You'll leave me out of it if you know what's good for you."

"Sorry, I was just asking." Squall said, holding up his hands apologetically. "I suppose I was just a little worried that Mika might have moved in on her. I know it sounds crazy, after all the guy is a vampire, but they did bond."

"Who's Mika?" Ellone asked interestedly.

"You know, Mika." Squall said raising an eyebrow as Ellone stopped walking to look at him confusion written all over her face. "Mika Skyle, Dante's younger brother. Is this ringing any bells?"

"Dante has a brother?" Ellone echoed.

"Come on Ellone you know as well as I do that he does." Squall said, annoyance making itself known. "What's with the amnesiac routine?"

"Squall I seriously don't know what you're talking about." Ellone said, looking slightly freaked out as she scrutinised him closely. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." Squall said before shrugging. Dante was the priority. Ellone completely forgetting a man who had saved her life was certainly not normal but for now it could be put on the back burner. "What else has been happening?"

"Irvine and Selphie broke up sadly." Ellone said. "I just got the cliff notes but I believe Irvine was suffering from PTSD after he was shot on Battleship Island. He woke up one night after a nightmare to find himself practically strangling Selphie. He and Zell have been reposted to Galbadia Garden so everyone involved can get a little space."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Squall shrugged. "I feel I have to ask, what's Seifer up to? Is he still around inflicting misery or has he done the world a favour and topped himself."

"As far as I know he's still working for Garden as an outside contractor." Ellone said brightly. "Seifer's done some good work from what I understand so when you head back there I think you'll have to tolerate his presence."

"Seifer killed me in case you've forgotten." Squall grunted. "So you'll forgive me if I don't give him a fruit basket."

"You weren't yourself when he killed you." Ellone chided her step-brother. "Also if I were you, I'd dial down on the Seifer hating when we locate Dante. He and Seifer became pretty good friends and you don't want to antagonise him when you're after his help."

"Do you ever stop being right?" Squall asked offhandedly, allowing himself a small smile.

"I doubt it." Ellone said barely concealing an uncharacteristic self-satisfied smile. "So don't go trying to win an argument against me. Furthermore, I think that when you see Seifer you might consider…"

"Wait a second." Squall said holding up a hand. Ellone stopped and raising her weapon clicked off the safety catch. The source of Squall's alertness was instantly apparent. There was a heated discussion coming from a nearby alley. "Let's check it out." Squall moved forwards, his gun blade at the ready.

"But you just let him go!" A woman's voice shrieked.

"After saving your life." Another voice said. Squall grinned and gave Ellone the thumbs up. The voice definitely belonged to Dante, or someone who was eerily good at impressions.

"For now." The woman replied angrily. "That was a D'Nall demon Dante, he won't stop coming until he kills me."

"Yet here you are." Dante snapped. "Walking, talking, annoying."

"But you fought like such a wimp." The woman exclaimed. "With the lifting and the running. Why not just kill him?"

"Nina think." Dante said in a long suffering tone of voice. "I fight, demon boy gets lucky, I get knocked out you get killed, true? We both know the safest and sanest way of saving your skin was to keep you with me, away from danger."

Squall sighed and nodded at Ellone. As they both stepped into the alleyway Ellone fired a shot in the air to grab Dante and the woman's attention.

"I hope we're not intruding." Squall said pulling off his balaclava.

Dante and his companion's faces went pale at the sight of Squall and their eyes bulged alarmingly. Dante was seemingly rooted to the spot but the woman was not similarly paralysed. She yanked out a throwing star and hurled it at Squall. Squall ducked out of the way but the woman about faced and hared off down the alley and out of sight at superhuman speed. Dante finally found his voice.

"You're dead." He managed.

"Funny," Squall replied, raising an eyebrow. "You'd think I would've stopped walking around."

* * *

**As ever thanks to MissPhoenix18 for her never ending support and reviews. Please keep 'em coming. As for the others out there, I would kill for a review from you guys so please leave one (puppy dog eyes). Thanks for reading regardless. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: The Damned**

For a few minutes Squall and Dante simply stared at each other. Ellone wasn't an expert in body language but as far as she could tell it looked like both men were weighing each other up. She contemplated wading in with some form of explanation but before she could act on the impulse Dante wrenched out his sword and pointed it directly at Squall's face.

"Can you give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?" He hissed between tightly clenched teeth.

"Take it easy Dante." Squall raised his hands to show he was unarmed. "I know we've never seen eye to eye but I mean you no harm. In fact, I'm hoping you might be able to help me with a venture that revolves around a mutual interest of ours. Are you interested?"

"What makes you think I want anything to do with you?" Dante snapped. "More to the point, how many times to I have to kill you before you have the common decency to stay dead?"

"What are you talking about?" Squall enquired, for once utterly nonplussed. "It's me Dante. Squall Leonhart?"

"Let's have no pretence about that." Dante growled. "Squall Leonhart is dead. I was there when he died. Using his body is an insult to his memory and I'd think you might've realised how bad an idea it is to piss me off after you kidnapped Rinoa and Quistis. More to the point how did you survive my brother gutting you like a sea bass?"

"You have a brother?" Ellone exclaimed.

"I haven't got a clue what you're on about." Squall said exasperatedly. "I'd never hurt Rinoa or Quistis."

"Save it Omega." Dante said in a soft deadly voice. "You've pissed me off and I don't know how you Old Ones do things but vampires like myself tend to kill people who piss me off. Any last words?"

"Are you going to tell me what the hell you're talking about?" Squall demanded as he raised his gun blade in a defensive stance.

"Like you don't know." Dante gritted out.

"Humour me." Squall replied. "Come on Dante, I'm very interested to hear what you think I'm up to now. You called me Omega. Maybe you could explain that while you're at it."

"Alright listen up because I'm only going to say this once." Dante growled. "I don't know why I have to tell you what you already know but I've given up trying to second guess my enemies whether they're ancient vampires or demons bent on Armageddon. You're an Old One, name of Omega. You've hijacked Squall Leonhart's body and you have a serious mad on for all vampires, the Obsidian family and I in particular."

"Okay, that explains a lot." Squall murmured before turning to Ellone. "What else happened while I was dead?"

Before Ellone could reply Dante lunged forwards and aimed a blow with his sword that would've beheaded Squall on the spot had he not ducked and blocked the blow. Squall backed up but Dante came towards him like a man possessed. For the first time Squall fully realised why it might not have been the smartest idea to actively antagonise the vampire. He was fast and strong and clearly knew how to handle his weapon. Squall parried another blow and decided to attempt reasoning with him.

"I'm not this Omega thing!" He growled as he locked blades with Dante. "I'm the real Squall. I don't know why I'm back but I was hoping you might be able to help me with that, among other things."

"Oh and I suppose I should take everything a vampire hating Old One says at face value." Dante snarled back. "Save your breath. You'll need it once I'm finished with you."

"Why not just beat me to a pulp with a flaming baseball bat like you did to Alexander Obsidian on Battleship Island?" Squall replied with a tight grin. "Break my neck like you did to Marcus Foxton in Balamb. Or here's an oldie but a goody. Impale me on a wall with a fragment of a broken door." Squall's smile grew as Dante immediately backed off looking thunderstruck. "What's up Dante? Cat got your tongue?"

"How do you know all that?" Dante whispered, lowering his sword but not sheathing it.

"I was there when you beat Alexander up and when you impaled Swift." Squall explained patiently. "I didn't actually witness you snapping Foxton's neck but judging by the state of his body after you dragged it out of the tunnels I guess it's fairly obvious. I know you're a formidable and highly adaptable fighter Dante. If the EMP grenades you used on Swift's cyborg assault team are anything to go by…"

"It can't be." Dante said hoarsely. "It's just not possible."

"Tell me about it." Squall grunted. "I could go on proving that I am the real, accept no substitutes Squall Leonhart but I'm on a bit of a tight schedule so maybe this will do." Squall rolled up his sleeve to reveal what was unmistakeable stab wound on his bicep. "That's the knife wound you gave me when I wouldn't tell you where the vampire hunter I hired was keeping Mika."

"Again with this Mika guy?" Ellone cried. "What are you talking about? Squall said he saved my life. Who is he?"

"Yeah what's that about?" Squall enquired confusedly. "I thought Ellone would remember Mika after the whole thing with the hostage situation in the Presidential Palace."

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" Dante asked. "I think I need to update you, and Ellone if she's interested in what exactly has been happening since you died. I can't tell you much about Balamb Garden in the last four months or so because I left back then and I haven't heard from them or been back since. Given some of the stuff I did during my time there, I don't think I'd be very welcome."

"Yeah about turning Quistis…" Squall drew back a fist and punched Dante hard enough to send him staggering back before collapsing onto his rear. Squall waited or Dante to retaliate but Dante simply got back to his feet and touched his jaw critically.

"I deserved that." He nodded. "Good right hook by the way."

"I try." Squall said icily. "Now that we're even I have a proposal for you. It involves torturing a certain someone to death. You interested?"

"Might be." Dante said noncommittally. "It had better not be Seifer because he is one of the few people I consider a friend."

"If I wanted to torture Seifer to death I wouldn't cut you in." Squall informed him. "My relationship with the guy is complex at best but it's also personal. It stays between Seifer and me only. My target is someone else and they're capable of a great deal more damage than Seifer."

"I think I'm beginning to get a pretty good idea who you're talking about." Dante said as a look of realization blossomed across his features.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear Dante." Squall warned. "This changes nothing between us. I still think of you primarily as an insufferably arrogant, impulsive and selfish vampire who needs his ass kicked. That's irrelevant because my mission goes well beyond our petty differences."

"You're going after Alexander Obsidian aren't you?" Dante smiled viciously.

"I think I might need a little help." Squall nodded. "And who better to help than one person who's faced Alexander and Swift and has lived to talk about it?"

"You've come to the right vampire." Dante said.

* * *

Selphie and Rinoa were sitting in the canteen having breakfast. Rinoa was simply nibbling on a single slice of toast but Selphie had a full day of classes on magic so she needed her strength. She'd evidently decided the best way to get it was eat a breakfast consisting of four slices of toast, three fried eggs, six rashers of bacon, six sausages, eight hash browns, two servings of baked beans and more fried mushrooms than you could shake a stick at. Rinoa sat open mouthed as he friend demolished the enormous plate of food. The only person Rinoa could remember eating that much in a single sitting was Dante.

"Holy crap Selphie," Rinoa shook her head and laughed. "Where the hell do you put it all?"

"I'm hungry." Selphie explained after swallowing hugely. "What's more I happen to have Seifer Almasy himself in my first class, so I think I can be forgiven for guessing that this class will be interesting."

"Don't let Quistis' horror stories about teaching him get to you." Rinoa advised. "I know he's still Seifer and while I question the powers that be in letting him back in to train as a SeeD I don't think you'll need to worry about him. If he rocks the boat he'll be kicked out so fast his feet won't touch the floor."

"I can handle Seifer." Selphie said. "I'm just eating all this because I've got classes all day today. Let me know when you can do an entire day without loading up on calories at breakfast."

"I hate to break it to you Selph," Rinoa chuckled. "But there is such a thing as lunchtime."

"Not for me there isn't." Selphie went on patiently. "I've got a backlog of essays on indirect magic that were supposed to be done three days ago."

"You're taking on way too much work Selph." Rinoa observed. "You need to have some time to yourself."

"I like working." Selphie replied flatly. "It keeps my mind off things that I'd rather not think about."

"Selphie, this thing with Irvine, just give it some time." Rinoa advised, mindful of the possibility that she was overstepping her boundaries. "It'll sort itself out. Just you wait and see."

"I don't think so."

"Why not?" Rinoa pressed.

"My boyfriend's having a nightmare and the next thing I know he's trying to snap my neck." Selphie shook her head vehemently. "That's not the sort of things that just works itself out."

"Come on Selphie, my boyfriend went crazy and wanted to kill us all in a slow and painful manner but I got past it." Rinoa reasoned. "What happened to Irvine could happen to anyone. It's not his fault. This wasn't something he chose it was something that was done to him. When all's said and done, he's still the father or your daughter."

"Yes, that's never going to change." Selphie said forcefully. "I, however need a little space. You know, for the first time in a long while you, me and Quistis are all single. We had better enjoy it because I don't think it'll last very long."

"What do you mean?" Rinoa asked, her interest piqued.

"Quistis has an admirer judging by what I've seen." Selphie forced a smile. "Tall, blonde hair, green eyes. A recovering psychopath. Scarred forehead. You see where I'm going with this?"

"Seifer?" Rinoa cried incredulously before snorting with laughter. "You're crazy. There's no way Quistis would go out with Seifer. For one thing, he's a primary reason she lost her instructors license. She considers him her greatest failure. There is no way that she'd go for him. No way. Never."

"Think about it Rinoa." Selphie continued. "Yes, Quistis considers Seifer her greatest failure and in order to rectify that she's been spending a lot of time with him. Most people at Garden have very little or no contact with their families so it's only logical that they form incredibly tight bonds with each other. Quistis has put sweat, blood and tears into Seifer's rehabilitation recently and at the very least he might feel some form of gratitude. Seifer and Quistis are both pretty attractive people by anyone's standards and with all the time they've been spending together is it really so hard to believe feelings might start to manifest themselves."

"Maybe on Seifer's part." Rinoa said, unconvinced. "Quistis is too disciplined, too focused on her job for romance."

"Squall was far more focused back in the day, but something about you made him sit up and take notice." Selphie grinned. "It doesn't matter how disciplined and work focal you are, attraction is one thing no one can ignore."

"Do you think Seifer's good for her?" Rinoa said, concern prominent on her features. "He does have a bit of a chequered past, and he never struck me as being particularly receptive to commitment."

"It's not our place to decide or advise." Selphie said sagely. "Quistis is her own person. My personal belief is that Seifer will either be the best thing for her, or the worst."

"I see." Rinoa said uncertainly. "Any idea which one?"

"Jury's still out on that one I'm afraid." Selphie crammed the last mouthful of her gargantuan breakfast into her mouth. "With that, I have to go to my class so I can glare disapprovingly at the latecomers. A fiver says Seifer will be one of them."

* * *

"You know, I'm almost glad I was dead." Squall muttered, rubbing his temples. "I leave you guys alone for two minutes and look what happens, the whole place goes to hell in a hand basket."

Squall and Dante were sitting in the couch in Ellone's office, Dante having just finished telling Squall what had happened since his death on Battleship Island. He'd told Squall everything aside from any particulars regarding Mika and Rinoa's relationship as he guessed Squall might not take the news well. If Squall approached the subject himself Dante would open the can of worms but Squall had enough to process for now, so Dante guessed he could withhold the information in question for the time being.

"The part that I really can't get my head around is that you are married." Squall shrugged. "I can't believe that there's someone so tolerant that they'd want to spend their whole life with you."

"You're not the only one who was shocked." Dante shrugged. "When Seifer found out he looked like he'd been hit in the face with a brick, while Quistis lost all sense of proportion and dumped me, practically on the spot even after I gave her my life story."

"I can't help but notice one thing." Squall said evenly. "You described most of the relationships that have developed during my absence. You were however conveniently vague about Rinoa's relationship status."

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to open this can of worms just yet." Dante said, mentally cursing himself. "I could tell you about it but I have to warn you now, you won't like it."

"Tell me." Squall said immediately. It was clear by his tone that it was an order, not a request.

"Your funeral, no pun intended." Dante replied. "It would be accurate to say that your death had a profound effect on Rinoa. Long story short it hit her so hard her mind just broke and she entered what is known as a grief coma. Simply put, it's a form of catatonia induced entirely by grief. While she was in this state Mika watched over her more or less indefinitely and he was instrumental in curing her. After this, through a combination of gratitude on Rinoa's part and blatant infatuation on Mika's they embarked on a relationship of sorts. Mika helped Rinoa deal with the grief and helped her move on. You might as well know that their relationship did become sexual but in what was frankly a Herculean feat of patience it took them near enough seven months to get there."

"Where is Mika anyway?" Squall asked, his voice shaking. "How did Ellone forget him?"

"Rinoa and I decided that Mika needed a better life away from all of this." Dante explained casually. "We put our heads together and came up with a spell that transformed him into a human and provided him with a stable, loving, human family and a brand new set of memories to go with it. He doesn't remember anything, and no one remembers him, aside from Rinoa and I. You, I have no idea how you stand immune."

"How's this for a theory?" Squall ventured. "The spell didn't affect me because at the time of the casting I was dead. There was no need. Anyway, back to Rinoa what happened next?"

"Well she was understandably upset." Dante explained. "Hell, _I _cried my eyes out so I'm surprised she didn't flood her dorm room. In the interest of full disclosure I'll admit that I did sleep with her, but it was a one-time thing. I owed her for doing the spell, and she wanted some companionship. After that I don't know because I left at dawn the next morning. I didn't want to wake her." That was when Squall threw a punch that caught Dante in the side of the head and threw him off the couch.

"That's for having sex with Rinoa." Squall growled before punching Dante again. "That's for not even having the decency to hang around afterwards."

"Okay, I deserved those." Dante nodded. "As for Rinoa, if you want to know what happened in the last four months I suggest you ask her yourself."

"That can wait." Squall waved a hand dismissively. "I'll kill Alexander, and then figure out where I stand with Rinoa."

"If I may posit an alternative course of action." Dante interjected brightly. "How about you figure out where you stand with Rinoa and then we go after Alexander. He is the biggest, baddest, bad ass the world has ever seen and if we were to move against him I wouldn't mind having a super powerful Sorceress in our corner."

"Absolutely out of the question." Squall snapped immediately. "I don't want Rinoa anywhere near this. I don't want her getting hurt, or worse."

"Hear me out." Dante said holding up a hand. "Rinoa, Mika and I successfully baited and killed Alexander's brother Adrian remembers? The only damage was to my ribs. Rinoa was right there in the thick of it and she didn't get a scratch. What's more, she's got every reason to hate Alexander. She wants him dead pretty much for the same reasons you do."

"I can understand that but Rinoa's not getting involved and that's final." Squall snarled, trying to keep his temper under control. "I can't risk her."

"I would dearly love to see you tell her that." Dante chuckled.

"I've told you Dante, I'm not going to let Rinoa know I'm alive before I've dealt with dear old Alexander." Squall growled before noticing the look on Dante's face. "What are you looking so cheerful about?"

"Fortunately, Rinoa finding out about your miraculous recovery from a knife in the heart is not up to you." Dante smiled. "Swift will most probably tell Alexander that we're after him. We've lost the element of surprise. So there's only one plausible course of action where we might come out on top. We rain the whole fury of SeeD and Garden on him."

"And you think Garden will declare war on Alexander on your say so?" Squall snorted incredulously. "You have no authority in Garden or over any of its personnel."

"I know that," Dante nodded before treating Squall to his eeriest smile. "But there is someone that the entirety of Balamb Garden will follow without question. He's sitting in this room."

"I'm not going back to Balamb Garden until Alexander is dead." Squall growled. "I don't know what you're hoping to achieve but it's not going to happen."

"Oh but it is." Dante grinned still wider. "You see, in order to find out where things stand between you and Rinoa you need to be alive. We've lost the element of surprise and if you think you can take Alexander on with only me as backup then I'm sorry but you're tragically mistaken. Get some sleep Squall. We're heading to Balamb Garden at first light."

It was at that point the lights in the office, not to mention every other light in the Presidential Palace went out. After a few seconds green emergency lights flickered on, accompanied by a howling alarm that Squall immediately recognised as the one the Palace sounded in the event of a full frontal assault.

"You have to be kidding me!" Squall barked as he leapt to his feet and drew his gun blade. "Can I never get a moments peace?"

Dante crossed to the desk and picked up the phone and putting it to his ear. It was dead as he had expected so Dante crossed to his rucksack and rooting through it pulled out a CB radio he'd been using to listen in on Esthar police communications for a tell-tale trace of Alexander. He quickly and efficiently tuned the radio to the Palace frequency.

"This is the President's office to the front desk, over?" Dante said flashing a quick smile at Squall. "Come in front desk? Do you copy, over?"

"Ah this is the front desk, we're kind of…oh no…oh my God!" The man's panicked voice was accompanied by the unmistakeable sound of gunfire.

"Stop whining and make a report!" Dante ordered.

"Send back up!" The man yelled back. "Send back up now. It…no!" His voice trailed off into gurgling sounds that were quickly cut off. The gun fire continued for a few seconds before stopping to be replaced by screams and groans.

"Okay-dokey." Dante chirped as he stood up, buckled on his sword belt and loaded a magazine into his MAC 10. He looked to Squall. "I hope you're fit."

* * *

The power outage had affected the lifts so Dante and Squall had no choice but to hare down forty storeys of stairs. When they got to the reception a macabre scene greeted them. Hotel staff, guards, soldiers and anyone else who happened to be in the vicinity were sprawled all over the room in varying states of disassembly. The floor was slick with blood and a great deal of the walls were scarlet as well. Standing in the middle of it all, to Dante's everlasting horror was the Beast he'd fought in Deling alongside Seifer, Zell and Irvine.

"What the hell is that?" Squall said.

At his words the Beast turned towards him and tossed a severed head aside. Dante unsheathed his sword while he and Squall moved forward, ready to attack the Beast at the same time although Dante was well aware that such an approach was unlikely to do much good. The Beast afforded Squall and his gun blade an appraising look before locking his eyes on Dante.

"Dante!" The Beast rumbled before disregarding Squall entirely and thundering towards Dante. Dante opted to deviate from the plan. He immediately about faced and charged towards a pillar before jumping into the air. He pressed his left foot against the pillar and pushed off. He used the momentum to deliver an aerial spin kick to the Beast's head. He landed on his feet and brandished his sword. The Beast however was unfazed and it immediately punched Dante hard enough in the chest to send him crashing through the pillar. Dante hit the ground like a sack of potatoes and was instantly buried in debris.

Squall charged and swung his gun blade at the Beast's neck, hoping to score a beheading. The blade however bounced off the rock like armour. The Beast spun towards Squall and aimed a punch at Squall's head. Squall ducked and stabbed upwards at the Beast's neck. The blow was similarly ineffective. As Squall rolled to avoid the Beast attempting to stomp him with its cloven feet his SeeD training kicked in. This particular adversary clearly possessed extreme durability, possibly superior to a high level Iron Giant's ability to take physical hits. There was usually only one way to deal with that. Squall rolled to the side before leaping up and casting Meltdown on the Beast. The Beast staggered back with an unearthly roar.

"Now that's more like it!" Squall roared jubilantly as he charged forwards. He dodged the Beast's next punch and spun his gun blade around and up between the Beast's legs, hoping to bisect him. That would've happened had the gun blade not bounced off the armour once more. The Meltdown spell had inexplicably not worked. Squall gaped at his gun blade for a few microseconds but that was enough for the Beast who punched Squall in the chest. Squall was launched off his feet and sent flying across the room before his body hit the wall hard. Squall slid down to the floor and couched painfully.

It was at that point a distraction presented itself. Suddenly a cast iron harpoon the size of a boat anchor flew through the air and hit the Beast in the chest. The harpoon bounced off but there was still adequate force behind to knock the Beast back a couple of paces. Squall looked up and saw Ward and Kiros, both intent on engaging the Beast at close quarters moving forwards. Behind them were Laguna and Ellone who had opened fire with assault rifles. Squall forced himself to his feet. Ward and Kiros were not vampires and they didn't have Guardian Forces bolstering their abilities so they were not remotely prepared to go toe to toe with the Beast.

"Oi you!" Squall thundered as he stormed forwards. "Never dismiss me as a threat!"

Ignoring Ward's thunderstruck expression and Laguna's shocked expressions Squall exploded into a sprint, casting an Aura spell on himself as he went. Aura was a remarkably potent spell that was only supposed to be used in the direst of circumstances. It bolstered reaction times, stamina, strength and every other physical attribute. Squall immediately launched a whirlwind of fast and accurate cuts. They bounced ineffectively off the armour but they still forced the Beast back and gave it no time to retaliate. Finally Squall forced the Beast to its knees and pulling out his revolver levelled it at the Beast's face.

"I'll see you in hell Stonehenge." He growled.

Before h could pull the trigger the Beast responded with an uppercut that knocked Squall's gun arm high. Then the Beast shoved Squall aside and thundered through the doors it had already smashed in when it had entered.

"Okay now I'm pissed!" Dante roared as he disentangled himself from the rubble. "Where is he?"

"Gone." Squall said simply before turning his attention to Laguna. "I guess we should talk."

* * *

**Once again thanks to all of those who have taken the time to review this fic (all two of you). I hope to hear from MissPhoenix18 again, and a warm welcome back to geelouxo. I hope others will review in time. Thanks to all who are reading this piece. I hope you're enjoying it. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: The Next Step**

The flabbergasted President of Esthar got over the reappearance of his estranged and formerly dead son with remarkable speed. Dante, Ellone and Kiros were still pretty shell shocked and Ward would probably be utterly speechless if he wasn't already. The monolithic Presidential Aide was tottering around unsteadily and staring at Squall as if he'd suddenly grown a second head. Of the six who trooped up to the President's Office while the entry hall was removed of bodies and cleaned Squall was the only one who was more interested in what Dante had referred to as the "walking slag heap from hell".

"We need to have a drink!" Laguna proclaimed as he jubilantly kicked the double doors to his office open and fired a burst of celebratory gun fire in the air, nearly bringing the plaster down. He set the gun down and headed for his liquor cabinet and promptly solved the problem of locating the key (which he'd lost) by tripping over his feet, pitching forwards and head butting the door hard enough to break it off its hinges. Laguna seized the door and hurled it over his shoulder swearing loudly. It flew out the open window as Laguna grabbed a bottle of bourbon and five glasses. Then he looked around the room and counted on his fingers before withdrawing a sixth. In order to avoid any further "slapstick destruction" Ellone took the bottle and opened it before filling the glasses.

"So Squall…" Dante began in a wildly transparent attempt to break the ice.

"What's being dead like?" Laguna interrupted interestedly, ignoring the warning looks that Ellone, Kiros and Ward shot at him. Squall however seemed quite unperturbed at Laguna's question.

"I can talk you through it." Squall sipped his whisky before continuing. "I was lying on the floor with Seifer's knife sticking out of my chest, then it went dark and I woke up on a beach a couple of weeks ago."

"I think Laguna was asking if there's an afterlife." Dante supplied helpfully. "I can't remember the brief period that I was dead when Swift turned me but I was out for days. Maybe you being dead for longer answered the eternal question; where do dead people go?"

"I can't answer that I'm afraid." Squall shrugged. "The only reason I know the date is because a beach comber found me and gave me plenty of information before I decided to head out and come here to look."

"Look for what?" Laguna asked.

"Look for the supernatural sod that was a primary reason he died." Dante broke in quickly. "Look for him, find him and then cut his head off. Stake him through the heart. You know; something poetic."

"Well let's find him!" Laguna said immediately. "I'll put everyone on the lookout. The army, intelligence services, and police you name it. I'll put a call for information on every television channel. I just need a few details."

"You're better of not knowing." Squall said firmly. "Even your Special Forces cyborgs are in no way equipped to deal with a man like Alexander Obsidian. If you go public we'll lose the element of surprise, which we're pretty sure we've already lost. Dante and I are currently working on a way of dealing with him that will hopefully minimise collateral damage."

"There is a way." Dante spoke up.

"I said no!" Squall snapped spinning towards Dante. "Anyway, much as I hate Alexander, I think we need to deal with the big demon that just turned the entrance hall into his own personal abattoir don't you?"

"I've met him before." Dante grunted. "Balamb Garden picked up some sort of dark energy pulse in Deling City. They sent me, Seifer, Zell and Irvine to check it out. Long story short, we caught up with that thing on top of the gateway where we fought it and to say the least it wasn't a great success."

"Meaning…" Squall asked.

"Seifer, Zell and Irvine all took a quite a kicking." Dante explained. "As for me, that thing nearly beheaded me with my own knife and then tossed me off the top of the gateway."

"So what now?" Ellone spoke. "I'm not a military person but I'm pretty sure that going after that thing without any information would not be a smart idea. What does it want?"

"Other than charbroiling everyone and everything in sight I don't think it has much of an agenda." Dante said as he sipped his drink. "Ordinarily I'd ask Swift Obsidian seeing as he knows pretty much everything about everyone. However I get the impression that he and I aren't on the best of terms anymore, what with me being pretty much hell bent on killing him and his brother."

"Yeah he doesn't like me very much either." Squall said. "I ran into him after I killed a Behemoth and he made it perfectly clear that if I go up against Alexander, I go up against him to."

"That family are a real pain in the neck." Dante fumed. "We couldn't offer them a peace offering but what if we got them in the same place as the Beast. Alexander at least _hates _me. If I offered myself up to the Beast on a silver platter, and Alexander happened to be present, my guess if they might well have a dispute over who gets to kill me. I highly doubt that Beast settles things with reason and I know Alexander definitely doesn't. If he kills the Beast, yay for the good guys. If the Beast kills him…"

"We don't get much in the way of revenge." Squall cut him off coldly. "I don't know about you, but I don't want Alexander dead. I want to kill him in as painful, slow and memorable way as possible."

Both looked over to see Laguna pick up the phone and start to punch in a number. Squall stood up while Dante, Ellone and Kiros exchanged looks of alarm, all three with a pretty good idea who Laguna was calling.

"Who are you calling?" Squall asked uneasily.

"Balamb Garden." Laguna answered simply. "They need to know that you're alive. Rinoa in particular. Don't try and talk me out of this Squall. They need to know that you're alive."

"And they will." Squall said. "I will tell them in my own time but not until after I've dealt with Alexander. I don't want them anywhere near the man. Zell, Selphie, Irvine and Quistis are my best friends and I still love Rinoa more than anything and I don't want Alexander using them against me if I can avoid it. Put the phone down."

"Absolutely not." Laguna said stubbornly. "They need to know and the whole "I don't want Alexander hurting them" routine won't help. Quistis has her Blue Magic, Irvine has more guns and bullets you can shake a stick at. Then there's Selphie who can throw some pretty power magical firepower his way and Zell can fist fight monsters the size of a semi-truck before breakfast. Then there's Rinoa; a Sorceress. Squall, you and I both know they can handle themselves."

"He's got a point you know." Dante guessed, sensing that Laguna's words were having an effect on Squall.

"No one can handle Alexander." Squall retorted trying to force his emotions back under control. "We know that."

"I can't talk to this guy." Dante said in an undertone to Kiros who was sitting next to him before facing the President. "Laguna; talk to him. See if you can get him to focus."

"You do know I'm standing right here don't you?" Squall demanded.

"That's why I said it." Dante said as he drained his glass. "Call me when Squall sees the light. Until that time comes, I'm off-ski."

* * *

Seifer pushed the weights up and down, growling with every push. He'd woken up in the middle of the night with a compulsive need to pump some iron so he'd headed to the gym. He'd always been pretty motivated to stay in shape but since he'd become a SeeD cadet again it had become more of an obsession, if not a pathological fixation. Seifer had always been well within the upper echelons of most classes, especially the ones involving extreme violence but now he was leaps and bounds ahead of his classmates. As far as he was concerned, the SeeD exam couldn't be to far away and provided he followed orders this time his place in the elite force was all but assured.

"You're up early." A voice said before Rinoa walked forwards and looked down at him as he continued pumping the iron.

"Thanks for the bulletin Little Miss Obvious." Seifer grunted, determinedly avoiding Rinoa's eye. "I was looking for some alone time so if it's perfectly okay with you I'd like to get back to that. Please vanish."

"Someone's a little grumpy today." Rinoa arched an eyebrow as Seifer set the weights back onto their holder and sat up before grabbing a water bottle and taking a long mouthful.

"Why are you still here?" Seifer demanded. "Look a funny thing about my psychological make up is the fact that I avoid idle chit-chat with a girl I handed over to a megalomaniacal Sorceress dictator without so much as a bye your leave."

"That was years ago." Rinoa shrugged. "I'm over it. I wanted to talk, specifically about you."

"Sorry," Seifer said as he stood up. "I'm not really one for self reflection. You'd think some people would've realised that by now. Take it from me Rinoa you'd do better to talk to your little friends instead of me."

"Oh but my interest in talking to you stems from my concern for one of my friends in particular." Rinoa returned, moving to block him off. "Quistis, to be exact."

"Quistis?" Seifer echoed, wondering where exactly Rinoa was going with this. "What's Quistis got to do with anything?"

"Quistis is my friend." Rinoa said simply, although there was a noticeable edge of steel in his tone this time. "I like to look out for her. Make sure she's okay. In particular I like to make sure she's with a good guy."

"Oh so that's what this is about?" Seifer drawled, comprehension dawning on his features. "Funny how you didn't speak up when she was bouncing around on top of Dante. Unless…"

"What?" Rinoa said.

"Why are you not picking up some ammunition for your argument as compelling as Dante Skyle?" Seifer grinned. "You and I both know that when it comes to him emotions run high and inhibitions run low."

"Are you going to shove that into English any time soon?" Rinoa demanded, although she was pretty sure she knew where Seifer was going.

"I think we ought to talk about Dante some more." Seifer grinned. "How well do you know him?"

"Dante?" Rinoa put an outrageously melodramatic finger to her lips and pretended to think about it. "About six feet tall, brown hair and eyes, vampire? Are we talking about the same guy?"

"I don't know." Seifer shook his head and pulled a frustrated face. "What else do you know about him? Think hard now."

"Why are you doing this?" Rinoa growled in annoyance. "He likes cigarettes, whisky and punk music. He's got a few tattoos."

"Tattoos eh?" Seifer grinned. "He wouldn't happen to have any in compromising places would he? I knew a guy in Screamer Mountain who had smiley faces tattooed on his kneecaps so he could talk to them when he was lonely. Then I had the misfortune to see him in the showers and I realised that wasn't the only place he'd got them."

"I don't think he's got anything like that." Rinoa said. "Anyway, what makes you think I'd know if he did?"

"You were seen." Seifer announced, decided he was tired of the charade. "In the morning after Dante left I happened to see you leave his room. One wonders what you were doing there, until I noticed you were dressed in a dressing gown that I'm fairly sure was designed with seducing a vampire in mind."

"Okay fine I slept with him." Rinoa snapped. "It was a one time thing. There were major extenuating circumstances."

"Oh I bet there were." Seifer grinned. "Well it's been quite nice to talk to you Rinoa but I really must be going. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your little vampire tryst for at least a week. Ciao for now."

"Not to fast Seifer." Rinoa said. "We still need to talk about Quistis."

"Let me tell you something Rinoa." Seifer said turning to her. "Even if I did have feelings for Quistis I wouldn't stop pursuing her on your say so. That said I do not have feelings for Quistis. I'm not going to deny she's easy on the eyes but there's too much water under the bridge there."

"Do you expect me to believe that?" Rinoa snorted. "That simply makes you want her all the more. Quistis is unattainable or about as close as it's possible to get. I'm not about to tell you to stay away from her, because her choice of men is not for me to make but let me give you fair warning. You hurt her in the slightest; I will be there to make your life a misery." Rinoa spun around and stalked out of the gym while Seifer stared after her.

_Sometimes Rinoa, you really give me the creeps._

Seifer sat down on a bench and grabbed a barbell from a nearby rack. He started pumping it and decided to work up an appetite for breakfast despite the fact it was hours away. He knew that Rinoa had an incredible ability to leave people mulling over what she said and given that the subject matter was his love life or lack thereof it would drive him flat-out, bug-shagging crazy if he just lay in bed thinking it over. He knew that even if he wanted it to nothing would happen between him and Quistis. There was too much history and bad blood there.

* * *

Dante had left the Presidential Palace and headed to the nearest club he could find and was sitting at the bar, staring murderously into his pint glass when someone sat down next to him.

"I'll have what he's having." The newcomer said in a familiar voice that piqued Dante's interest. He looked up and practically swallowed his tongue in fright. Sitting next to him was none other than Alice Obsidian herself. Dante's fear was well justified, given that the last time they'd crossed paths she'd hung him from bear traps and tortured the living hell out of him. She smiled at Dante and raised a glass as if toasting him. Dante contemplated braining her with his own glass but quickly dismissed the idea, as it would just be yet another reason for Alice to feed him his own liver.

"Alice," Dante said quietly as he took a mouthful of beer. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"There's no need to look so spooked Dante." Alice replied cheerfully. "You're not in danger from me, at least not yet. I just thought we should have a chat."

"Well you must be able to understand my reluctance for that to happen." Dante bit off rancorously. "After all the last chat you and I had revolved around bear traps and broken glass. Let me make this clear. I didn't sleep with you in order to get to your brothers. I slept with you because I liked you."

"Mind your tongue." Alice said warningly. "It may be detrimental to the reason I'm here but I will tear your heart out if you test me."

"Let me take this opportunity to apologise for Adrian." Dante grunted. "I'm sorry I killed an ancient vampire so incredibly boring that he's more interesting dead and at the bottom of the ocean."

"Why do insist on baiting me?" Alice growled.

"Maybe because it's nice to make a member of your family crazy rather than the other way around."

"That's fair I suppose." Alice mused. "However to business. A little bird by the name of Swift, pun intended, told me that a certain gun blade wielding hero is back in the world with homicide on the brain. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

"What's he saying?" Dante enquired noncommittally, taking another mouthful of beer eyeing Alice warily.

"Apparently someone somewhere resurrected Squall Leonhart." Alice informed him before her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You don't seem particularly shocked by this."

"I've learnt to be surprised by anything the world throws at me." Dante shrugged. "After your beloved big brother sent me to Quor-Toth, I think it's safe to say I've seen everything. Go on."

"According to Swift, Squall is on the war path big time." Alice continued. "He's after Alexander and he's not going to stop until everyone and everything in his path is dead or destroyed."

"So he's thorough and goal orientated." Dante quipped. "Does Alexander know this?"

"I believe he was the first person Swift told." Alice answered. "Oh and if you think you can follow me to Alexander I'd advise against it. I know you're obsessed with killing him and Swift and that's why we're having this conversation. I doubt you'd be impressed if a second rate mercenary like Squall Leonhart robbed you of a chance to get even. So, mad as it sounds I'm asking for your help. Kill Squall Leonhart and I claim your prize."

"You want me to kill Squall so he won't kill your brother." Dante snorted. "The only price I'd kill him for is one chance to have a pop at Alexander but I'm guessing that's off the table."

"How perceptive." Alice observed sarcastically. "Giving you that would defeat the purpose of killing Squall in the first place. Is there anything else we could give you?"

"Doubt it." Dante muttered as he drained his glass. "Let me tell you something. Piece by piece, your brothers tore my life apart. Alexander took my wife and child, Swift took my brother and my life and every time they turned up they destroyed more and more of what little I've had left. Now all I've got is my revenge and I will have it. There's nothing as certain as that. Run along and tell Swift and Alexander that I will come for them. End of chat."

"Not so fast Dante." Alice grabbed him by his right bicep as he slid off his bar stool. "I should have made it clear to you. You don't get a choice in this. You're going to kill Squall for me, or I'll kill you here and now. So what's it going to be?"

"What is it about me that makes you people come to me every time they've got a problem?" Dante raged.

"Look Dante, I'm going after Squall and I could use your help." Alice continued menacingly. "I can kill him without you but I'd prefer to do it with you. I don't see what your problem is. You and I both want him dead for the same reason. We don't want him to kill Alexander."

"Why don't we just point him at Alexander?" Dante asked. "We both know what's he's like. He'd eviscerate Squall in seconds."

"Yes he probably would but as far as I'm concerned probably isn't good enough." Alice replied. "He's my brother and I don't want to risk him."

"And you've decided to team up with someone who's made it his mission in life to kill Alexander in as painful a manner as possible." Dante mused. "Now I've heard everything."

"I'm talking to you now because I think you're one of very few people that can handle Squall." Alice said. "Call it a limited partnership of sorts."

"To be honest I don't think I'm cut out for partnership." Dante checked the bartender was looking the other way before swiping a bottle of beer. "My last partner booked if for pastures new at the first sign of trouble."

"This partner you speak of wouldn't happen to be your wife would it?" Alice said before noticing the look of surprise on Dante's features. "Swift mentioned that he'd run into you two and I couldn't help but overhear. Call me jealous."

"And what the hell were you jealous about?" Dante enquired. "Sure, I'm a Viking in the sack but that ended when you tortured me for killing Adrian."

"It had nothing to do with Adrian, other than the fact I don't like people using me to get at my brothers." Alive waved a hand airily. "Then I had some time to mull things over and I realised that maybe I overreacted a little."

"A little?" Dante exclaimed. "You call hanging me from the ceiling by bear traps and slashing me open every time I said something you didn't like a little overreaction?"

"I could've done worse." Alice informed him. "One upside of having brothers like Gaston and Alexander is that I'll never run out of creative torture methods. There's a couple I'd like to use on Squall."

"Let's say I choose to work with you." Dante said. "What's in it for me?"

"You get to take out a rival for the dubious honour of chopping Alexander's head off, and I happen to be very nice to people who help me." Alice grinned. "Really, really nice if you know what I mean."

"Well that's a start but I think I'd like some more than that." Dante sniggered. "You see when I baited Adrian into a death trap I gave him a list of demands. He is obviously in no position to fulfil them so maybe you can do better."

"What do you want?" Alice asked.

"Years supply of blood, merry bushels of cash, guaranteed protection and most important of all, assurances that I am not to be in any way slain by your lunatic siblings."

"Done." Alice said immediately.

"Right then." Dante hopped off his stool and grabbed his jacket. "Lead on then."

Alice and Dante left but were too busy chatting (and in Alice's case shamelessly flirting) to notice if they were being watched. Once they'd gone Nina stood up from her table, seized her own jacket and followed, her eyes narrowed with intense dislike.

"That bitch."

* * *

**Sorry for the delay, but this chapter didn't want to be written. As ever thanks go out to my readers and reviewers, especially MissPhoenix18 and geelouxo who I cannot thank enough for their support. Keep reading and please leave a review. I'm dying to know what you think. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: The Honeymoon Is Over**

Dante and Alice arrived in Balamb under the pretence of being a couple of newlyweds on their honeymoon. This resulted in them taking the top floor honeymoon suite and a complimentary bottle of champagne. Dante dumped his rucksack on the bed and ignoring the champagne entirely pulled out his hip flask and drained half of it in one breath. Then he turned to Alice.

"I know we have to share the bed to keep up appearances but let's be clear about one thing." He said warningly. "If even as much as a finger crosses the middle I'll have your eyes in a jam-jar."

"Charming." Alice deadpanned. "I'm going to give you a warning, if you continue to threaten me I'll have something of yours in a jam jar, and believe me I'm not talking about your eyes."

"Fair enough." Dante said, making a mental note to watch himself. It might appeal to his slightly warped sense of humour to think up creative new threats but Alice was a lot stronger than Dante and he knew only too well what she was capable of. Dante may have survived encounters with the Obsidian family through nigh supernatural luck but it wouldn't last forever. He started methodically laying out all his weaponry to check it was all working and perform maintenance where it was needed. As he emptied his rucksack a photograph fell out but before Dante could grab it Alice snatched it up and examined it. It was a copy of the photograph from the Obsidian Ball, identical to the one Seifer had on his bedside table.

"I remember that night." Alice mused. "I did feel truly bad about Gaston crushing Seifer's hand."

"I remember Quistis messing with my head by picking Alexander as a dance partner most of all." Dante said without looking up from a collapsible crossbow. "Now that I think about it I can't really blame her in the slightest for wanting to have a pop at me. I did turn her into a vampire."

"She did look beautiful." Alice observed. "It's Alexander's way of showing his dominance. He gets the prettiest girl in the building. Of course she looked beautiful. Alexander gave her everything she was wearing."

"She was a knock out," Dante concurred. "But permit me to say you were no dog yourself."

"Was that a compliment?" Alice asked.

"You tortured me half to death not so long ago." Dante grunted. "I've still got the marks ergo you don't get compliments."

"Caveman." Alice jabbed before handing the photograph back. "So what's the plan about Squall? I suppose we're going to tell his friends that he's back in the land of the living."

"That's the absolute last thing we should do." Dante shook his head vehemently. "If we were to tell them that Squall's back without any proof they wouldn't believe us for a minute. What's more they'd probably guess we were playing some kind of joke and seeing as it would be in very poor taste they might try to kill us. After all, SeeD is a military force and they solve their problems with violence."

"So what do you suggest?" Alice enquired.

"We do a lot of groundwork." Dante clarified. "Squall's friends are the way in, I'm sure of that. We wait, watch and listen. We can't let them know we're in town just yet so we keep a low profile. See, don't be seen. I'm personally very interested in who resurrected Squall in the first place. The prime suspect is obviously Rinoa Heartilly apart from one gaping flaw in that theory. I've known quite a few Sorceresses' over the years and I've seen what they can do, but I know for a fact that no Sorceress can perform a resurrection spell. Simply put, we're looking for a witch or a warlock."

"Let's just say Alexander shows up and decides to provoke Squall into fighting." Alice asked. "It's not much of a leap to guess that he might go after Squall's friends. What do we do if he shows up?"

"That's where you come in, my dear Alice." Dante said. "You have to do whatever it takes to talk him down."

"Sorry but no can do." Alice shook her head. "Once Alexander sets his mind to something there's nothing anyone can do to stop him."

"I have faith in you." Dante replied. "Turn on the waterworks, throw some punches at him, just make sure he does no damage to Balamb Garden okay? This is going to be very complicated and we don't need loose cannon like Alexander turning up and sending the whole franchise down the tubes."

"No promises." Alice said. "I don't see why we can't just head out, find Squall and rip his head off."

"Because Einstein, Squall Leonhart is a highly, highly dangerous individual." Dante explained patiently. "There are no guarantees where he is concerned and I think we might find it a little difficult to stop him killing Alexander if he chops us into croutons. Don't underestimate him. Sorceress Ultimecia, Griever, Bahamut and many others made that mistake." He frowned as Alice chuckled. "What are you laughing at?"

"There's enough irony here to write a Griffin Prize winning poem." Alice laughed. "I believe that back when he was alive for the first time you and Squall weren't the best of friends and now you're singing his praises. As if that wasn't enough, you're actively trying to preserve the life, of all people possible, of Alexander Obsidian. Isn't he supposed to be your mortal enemy?"

"I'm trying to preserve his life so I can take it myself." Dante pointed out. "When the time comes I'd advise you to get out of the way. I've got no quarrel with you or Gaston but if you get in the way you're fair game."

"Ordinarily I'd kill you for what is nothing more than a thinly veiled death threat." Alice growled. "However, I need you alive so smile; it's your luck day. Know this though. You won't be valuable forever and when that time comes I suggest you let go of the dream because if you come after my brothers, you come after me."

"Sad that." Dante grinned before picking up his largest crossbow and aiming it at Alice's heart. "Don't go getting any ideas sweetheart. We're in this together. You watch my back and I'll watch yours."

"Oh don't worry I'll watch your back," Alice said before pulling out a stake from her own bag. "But only so I can work out where to place this. For now however, what say you we take advantage of various facilities in the Balamb Hotel's honeymoon suite. Whirlpool tub perhaps? Or maybe we can just keep it simple. King size bed with silk sheets thank you very much. What do you say?"

"Not even on your best day." Dante said before holding up a coin. "One of us needs to sneak into Balamb Garden to start the "surveillance" phase of our plan. I'll flip you for it?"

* * *

"I'm not sure if this was such a good idea." Irvine murmured as he and Zell stepped off the train in Balamb Station. "How am I supposed to act when I see her? What do I say? I don't think I can lead with "Gee, I'm real sorry I had a nightmare and nearly killed you in my sleep"."

"It's post-traumatic stress disorder." Zell said sympathetically. "If you just sit down with Selphie and explain it to her that might go some way towards convincing her to forgive you. She won't get the balloons and streamers out but you're still the father of her child and that counts for something. She might not want to get back together with you but her forgiveness isn't totally out of reach."

"This is not going to be fun is it?" Irvine said despondently. "Come on Zell; give me the truth."

"I'd like to offer you some guarantee that you'll be welcomed back to Balamb Garden with open arms but I can't." Zell told him. "You may not be wanted, but you'll most definitely be needed. Something tells me that the big rock monster and the Obsidian family aren't through with us just yet. When they reappear we'll need the best sharpshooter in Garden."

"When did you become all insightful Dincht?" Irvine smiled in spite of himself. "This is very creepy."

"When you become an instructor you're hardwired to think rationally instead of following your blood." Zell explained. "Becoming an instructor was probably the best thing that could've happened to me because I used to follow my blood which sure as hell didn't run in the direction of my brain. If I hadn't become an instructor I probably would've killed us all."

"So you're the new poster boy for rational thought?" Irvine raised an eyebrow. "The Earth is doomed. How do you rationalise the continued presence of Seifer Almasy?"

"Seifer and I will never be the best of friends." Zell said. "There's way too much bad blood there but as far as I'm concerned he's a useful guy to have around. For one thing, we are a mercenary force and someone like Seifer is bound to generate _mucho _revenue for us. I think it's also pretty safe to say that he's one of the best swordsmen in the world now that Squall's dead."

"Speaking of Squall, do we have any idea why Edea's resurrection spell didn't work out?" Irvine asked.

"I guess it just didn't take." Zell grunted after a moments. "That's the way it goes sometimes. According to Selphie Edea knew there was a good chance it wouldn't work. She just didn't tell us because she thought we wouldn't want to be part of it."

"She was right." Irvine said dully. "It's Rinoa I really feel for. Squall dies a good while ago and ever since Rinoa hasn't let anyone close. Sure she's got us but I think she needs a new boyfriend or something. She can't keep living in the past."

"Can you keep a secret?" Zell asked. "I was talking to Selphie on the phone about a week ago and she let slip that Rinoa hasn't been as starved for male companionship as one might think. Apparently Rinoa told Selphie, in confidence, that she slept with Dante the night before he left?"

"Dante?" Irvine exclaimed incredulously. "I thought Rinoa was supposed to be clever but instead she jumps into the sack with a vampire and borderline sex fiend of his magnitude! What was she thinking?"

"Well she did lose the love or her life on Battleship Island." Zell reasoned. "So I think Rinoa's got a right to go crazy every now and then. That said, maybe she liked him. There must be a reason Quistis stayed with him for so long."

"Dante and Quistis' relationship went on and off like a lightbulb." Irvine waved a hand dismissively. "Maybe it's the PTSD talking but I happen to be of the opinion that the world would be a much better place without Dante Skyle in it. If he shows up again I won't think twice about pumping him full of lead and then driving a stake through his apology for a heart."

"My advice?" Zell ventured. "Maybe it's not the best idea to pick a fight with a super strong creature of the night. I've seen Dante in action and having him on our side was invariably a good thing. I really do not want to be on the receiving end of his rather excellent martial arts skills."

"Why don't you just go off and marry the guy if you love him so much?" Irvine snapped as he stepped up to the car rental window. He immediately turned to the clerk and gestured flamboyantly to the prices. "You call these good prices? What kind of scam are you trying to pull?"

"It's tourist season." The clerk said stiffly. "The prices go up at this time of the year. We're not making you pay them."

"Irvine take it easy." Zell said firmly, grabbing the sharpshooter by the back of his jacket and hauling him backwards with minimal difficulty before shooting the clerk and apologetic look. "You'll have to forgive my friend he hasn't been getting much sleep lately. What's the cheapest motor you've got?"

"We've got a Toyota Prius for fifty a day." The clerk said. Irvine let out a snort of derision to indicate what he thought of that price.

"I think we'd rather walk." Zell said before nudging Irvine in the ribs as they headed out of Balamb and onto the Alcauld Plains. "Hope you're fit."

"Fitter than you." Irvine replied.

"We'll see." Zell grinned.

* * *

Seifer skidded to a halt, straightened up and threw a salute to Quistis who was waiting for him just outside the Training Centre with a wry look on her face. Seifer had overslept and very nearly missed his excursion into the monster infested jungle with the Commander. One of Quistis' first acts as Commander was to accompany the most promising cadets into the Training Centre and observe their skills in order to determine which groups they should be assigned to for the field exam.

"Good of you to join me Seifer." Quistis observed bitingly. "I'll let this ride but only because tardiness isn't exactly your greatest sin."

"I overslept." Seifer said, forcing what he evidently hoped was an apologetic grin. "I need a new alarm clock."

"What happened to the last one?" Quistis asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Somehow, don't ask me how it jumped off my bedside table and onto my bed." Seifer explained promptly. "It was a late night, I was knackered and I decided to go straight to bed. I sat on it and killed it."

"Maybe it's God's way of telling you to lay off the hot dogs." Quistis suggested, a small smile playing in her lips. "They're not really good for you in excess and we've all decided you could give Zell a run for his money."

"I'm a growing boy!" Seifer exclaimed indignantly. "I need my food and given what my days consist of, the more calories the better. Come on, cut me a little slack. You know I'm physically incapable of letting myself get out of shape."

"I suppose an argument could be made for that." Quistis relented before walking off towards the Training Centre with a jerk of the head indicating that Seifer was to follow her. Seifer pulled out his Glock, checked the action and slid it back into its holster. Then he slid his battle knife up his right sleeve and loosened the quick release on his gun blade sheath. Then he headed after Quistis.

Predictably the first monsters the pair encountered were Grats. Three of them. Quistis uncoiled her rante with practised ease and snapped it at the nearest monster before hanging back to watch Seifer. Most cadets would only have minimal difficulty against even a high level Grat so Quistis was curious to see how Seifer would fare. She was on hand to help is Seifer got in over his head but she found the chances of that eventuality pretty laughable. Seifer quickly proved her suspicions right by wrenching out his gun blade and charging with an inarticulate battle cry. This alerted the Grats to his presence but that didn't do the nearest Grat much good. Seifer covered the distance between them in a single bound and leaping into the air brought the Hyperion down on the unfortunate Grat, directly between its mandibles. The blade halted but Seifer exerted all his considerable strength and finished the monster easily. One half of the Grat toppled left, the other toppled right.

The other Grat's didn't know quite what to make of their fellow's untimely demise. They almost looked as if they were thinking about retreating but Seifer wasted little time showing them that he wasn't about to let them. He launched a Fire spell that scored a direct hit on the second, knocking it back and stunning it. The other Grat lashed out with its tentacles but Seifer held his ground and fended the tentacles off easily. As Quistis walked Seifer wrenched out his Glock with one hand while countering the tentacles with the other. He brought the gun round and squeezed the trigger unleashing a stream of hot lead at his target. The Grat was forced backwards by all thirty three rounds slamming into it. The doomed Grat thrashed about but Seifer wasn't renowned for showing his victims mercy. He hurled the Hyperion and it slammed into what was left of the Grat, halting it's struggles immediately. The third Grat was still recovering from Seifer's first Fire spell and was in no position to avoid Seifer's second which reduced it to little more than a blackened scorch mark on the ground. He retrieved the Hyperion and turned to Quistis.

"So," He said with a confident smile. "Are you convinced that I've still got it or do we need to continue?"

"You killed three Grat's, big whoop." Quistis bit off. In actuality she was impressed at the skill and conviction Seifer had fought with but there was no way she was about to let him know that. "Let's continue."

Quistis headed off and Seifer stared after her before deciding to throw caution to the wind and approach a subject that had been niggling at him since his late night conversation with Rinoa in the gym.

"Hey, I talked with Rinoa the other night." Seifer began. "I think her brains might have been scrambled somehow. For one thing she flat out admitted that she'd had sex with Dante, not to mention some pretty crazy theories she'd come up with."

"What are you talking about?" Quistis asked as she easily felled a Red Bat with a well-timed blow from her whip.

"It's crazy." Seifer informed her as he impaled the Red Bat's fellow on his gun blade. He shook the carcass off. "Personally I think Rinoa's loony bin material for even addressing the possibility."

"Don't take this the wrong way Seifer but are you going to shove that into a language I can understand anytime." Quistis asked.

"Just remember you asked for it." Seifer grinned viciously. "It's difficult…one wonders where he should begin…what it essentially boils down to is that Rinoa has gotten it into her head that I'm in love with you."

"What?" Quistis yelped.

"Yeah that was pretty much my reaction as well." Seifer said. "Maybe love is a hair strong but she was pretty adamant that I had feelings for you."

"And do you?" Quistis asked faintly.

"Behave yourself." Seifer snorted dismissively. "Personally I think this is irrevocable proof that the girl is one hundred percent barking bloody mad."

"She's nuts." Quistis said decisively. "I know that my relationship with Dante was pretty hard proof that I occasionally make mistakes when it comes to romance but you? No offense Seifer, but there's way too much water under the bridge there."

"I thought so as well." Seifer shrugged. "I just thought I should tell you so you can take it up with her. We really don't need anyone getting the wrong idea. Dante once told me that ending up in bed with you made him Public Enemy Number One as far as the Trepies were concerned. I already have enough people hating me and wanting me dead in this place. I don't need anymore."

"Don't sell yourself short Seifer." Quistis cautioned. "I think most people in Garden have gotten over the fact that you're here to stay. You might get a bit of a tough time from the hard core of SeeD members and cadets who remember the second Sorceress…"

"And from those that are being paid off by Xu and Zell." Seifer butted in.

"…But for the majority I think they'll afford you simmering resentment at the worst and simple respect at best." Quistis smiled. "Despite the fact I'm not interested I can see that you're a good looking guy Seifer. There are plenty of hormonal girls around here and if being with Dante taught me anything it's that attraction allows you to discount a lot of things."

At that point Seifer's arms shot out and he half pushed, half threw Quistis into the undergrowth as a long muscular tail whistled through the space she'd been standing in half a second before. She clambered out of the bushes to see Seifer flying through the air as the T-Rexaur's tail hit him in the chest. Seifer collided with a tree but he leapt back to his feet holding the Hyperion in a defensive position as the T-Rexaur eyed him hungrily. The beast lumbered forwards and snapped at Seifer who dodged and promptly relived the beast of one of its small arms. The T-Rexaur roared in pain and tried to kick Seifer who sidestepped and opened a deep cut across the back of its knee. Then he honoured the monster with a couple of lacerations in the ribs. The T-Rexaur retaliated with a tail swipe that sent Seifer pitching head first into a rock. It wasn't quite enough to knock him out but Seifer dropped the Hyperion and remained on the ground smiling in a rather bemused fashion as the injured (and royally pissed off) monster turned towards him).

"Oh no you don't!" Quistis yelled, her face morphing into the demonic visage of a vampire. The cracked her whip to get the monsters attention but the prospect of a free meal was far too appealing for it to pass up. It sent Quistis flying with a flick of its tail. She flew several metres before he progress was halted a tree that she crashed through with a great deal of cursing. She picker herself up as the T-Rexaur used it's foot to roll Seifer over and aimed a bite at the back of his neck. This would kill him instantly and not give the meat anytime to toughen. Quistis forced herself into a sitting position, growling at the pain in her back. Then her eyes fell on the tree she'd collided with. It was an olive tree. In ancient times people would often fashion clubs from the wood of olive trees. Sometimes it was because of the mythical magical properties the wood had but mostly because it was tough, heavy and good for bashing some poor bastards head in.

The T-Rexaur was just shaping up to administer the fatal bite when a rock bounced off its skull. It whirled around to see Quistis facing it with her whip in one hand and an olive tree branch in the other.

"I'm not finished with you yet!" She said coldly. The T-Rexaur ballooned it's cheeks and roared deafeningly.

"Is that all you got?" Quistis bared her fangs at the beast with snorted, somewhat miffed as this reaction. Generally speaking, the mere sight of it sent whatever was facing it scurrying madly for cover. Before it could do anything else Quistis danced forwards and hit it with a devastating uppercut from her club. The T-Rexaur howled, enriched by the turn it's life had taken. That was when the blade on the end of Quistis whip embedded itself in the T-Rexaur's right eye. The monster totally lost interest in both Quistis and Seifer and went berserk, stomping around and expressing its discomfort. Quistis took the opportunity to cast a Cure spell on Seifer who leapt up mad as hell.

"That was bracing." Seifer said bright less than two minutes later as he caught his breath next to the corpse of the T-Rexaur. Quistis had cheerfully bombarded the monster with Blue Magic and blows from her club and whip while Seifer had simply chopped away at every inch he could reach. The beast's head was now ten metres away from the rest of it. "So am I ready for the field exam?"

"Looking strong." Quistis admitted. "You'll have to remember that I won't be around to save your neck in the exam."

"It hurts me when you say things like that Quistis." Seifer smirked. "I can look after myself. When I went down back there it was simple bad luck."

"Yes, an unfortunate side effect of your reliance on luck to survive." Quistis replied acidly. "What do you think would've happened if I hadn't been there to help you out?"

"I would've been killed." Seifer scratched his chin unconcernedly.

"And doesn't that bother you?" Quistis barely suppressed a scream of exasperation. Even with the changes he'd undergone recently Seifer still possessed an uncanny ability to push her buttons.

"Everyone dies, so no it doesn't bother me much." Seifer reasoned. "In my line of work, I'll probably end up being killed by a monster or soldier. I might die in bed surrounded by fat grandkids but I don't see it happening. In my professional opinion death is the worst thing this world can throw at you, and it's the only thing in the world that will happen to everyone. If you can accept that, it's got no power over you." Seifer strode off and out of the Training Centre. Quistis sighed and followed.

And neither of them noticed Alice Obsidian in the undergrowth, listening to every word they said.

* * *

**Thanks go out to geelouxo and MissPhoenix18 for their on-going support. I truly cannot thank them enough and if I knew them I'd happily buy them a pint. As to everyone I haven't heard from (yet. I live in hope) thanks a plenty for sticking with the accursed fic.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Assault on Balamb Garden**

Zell wasn't entirely sure what woke him up. He'd simply opened his eyes and spent several seconds gazing down at Alexis who was resting her head on his chest and snoring. Zell looked around and wondered why he'd woken. Then with no warning his soldier intuition went into overdrive. There was danger nearby, invisible but nearby nevertheless. Before Zell could get out of bed and identify the source of the strange feeling he had there was a loud and utterly unmistakeable whistling followed by an ear splitting explosion. Needless to say Alexis awoke as the first explosion was followed by two more.

"Where's the cannon?" She said stupidly as Zell dived out of bed and started pulling on his clothes.

"We're under attack." Zell informed her before pulling on his metal knuckles before diving for the door, yanking it open and disappearing through it.

As Zell ran, the whistles and explosions followed. As far as he could tell the weapons were mortars, raining projectiles on Balamb Garden. There could very easily be other ordnance being used, such as rocket propelled grenades and shoulder fired missiles but that didn't really matter. What mattered was finding out who was responsible for this attack and dealing with them quickly and professionally. There was another whistle followed by a deafening explosion directly above him. Several section of the ceiling caved in and Zell would've been crushed has he not thrown himself forwards and into a prone position. He picked himself up and sprinted towards the end of the corridor before the whole ceiling came in.

When Zell reached the main hall of Balamb Garden it was in a state of marginally controlled mayhem. Instructors, SeeD's and cadets were all running around, some still in their night clothes, test firing weapons and trying to come to terms with the maddening turn what was an otherwise perfect night had taken. Zell caught up with Quistis, Cid and Irvine at the directory. Zell ducked as another projectile fell through what used to be the glass roof and detonated less than ten metres from him.

"Does anyone know exactly what the hell is going on?" Zell barked as he reached the others.

"We're under fire." Cid said stating the obvious. "Most of the fire seems to be mortars and rocket propelled grenades being fired from the foothills of the Balamb Mountains. Right now however, we're having a bit of a difference of opinion about how to respond."

"There's no other response." Irvine said vehemently. "We know where the attackers are so why aren't we launching a counterattack. We're SeeD for pities sake. Whoever is out there, we can deal with them. It's what we're trained for and we do it very well. We do it better than anyone."

"No one's disputing that Irvine," Cid said with equal conviction. "But we're all agreed that you shouldn't be involved. There's a reason you've been taken off operations until further notice."

"Irvine has a point." Zell interjected. "We have to launch a counterattack as soon as possible and if I wanted someone to provide some covering fire for said counterattack I can't think of anyone other than Irvine. Maybe this is chance for him to prove that PTSD or no PTSD he's still the best sharpshooter in Garden. You up for that mate?"

"Maybe my head is a tad messed up." Irvine said with a bloodthirsty grin. "My trigger finger on the other hand…" He left the sentence hanging and as he had predicted Cid wasn't looking particularly happy with that reply.

"Quistis back me up." He said. "It's in the Garden Code. Irvine was diagnosed with PTSD and that warrants immediate suspension on operations. Who knows what could happen if Irvine goes out there?"

"It's nice to know how much you think of me!" Irvine exploded belligerently. "It's heart-warming Cid, absolutely heart-warming!"

"Cid has a point." Quistis' response was more measured. "That said, so do Zell and Irvine. I'm Commander and I think we can trust Irvine to do his job in a calm and professional manner."

"What?" Cid exclaimed.

"Pick a team of snipers Irvine and get ready to mobilise." Quistis said. "We'll need some serious covering fire."

"This is a bad idea." Cid said as Irvine sprinted off to enlist snipers. "Irvine is not in the right frame of mind to be on operational duty. There's a reason we suspended him in the first place."

"None of what happened to Irvine was his fault." Quistis replied, and although her tone was still respectful there was an edge of steel in it. "It's done."

"This is a bad idea!" Cid repeated unwilling to back down.

"I said; it's done Headmaster." Quistis shot back, a fire flaring in her eyes that dared Cid to argue with her.

"Did you just pull rank on me?" Cid spluttered indignantly.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Quistis retorted, her eyes boring into Cid while Zell watched her warily. It was at that point another mortar fell through the roof and detonated among three SeeD members blowing them off their feet. Two rolled frantically on the floor to extinguish their burning uniforms. The third simply lay still on the ground, eyes wide open and staring unseeingly at the sky.

"No ma'am." Cid said. "I'm going to head to the infirmary and held Edea and the Doctor with the injured."

"Zell," Quistis rapped out as Cid sped off. "I'll need to stay here to coordinate everything so I'll need a field Commander for the counterattack. I need you to get together the best SeeD's we've got and get out there. Also, I'd like you to disregard your personal feelings and take Seifer along. He needs combat experience and I think this constitutes a perfect test to see if he really is ready for the field exam."

"Fair enough." Zell had seen Quistis overrule Cid and he had no desire to suffer the same treatment. "I'll need five minutes to get everyone ready. I have to ask, what happens in the eventuality of us failing."

"That's when we bring out the only solution short of levelling practically the whole island with a nuke." Quistis smiled tightly. "Selphie's on her way back with the Ragnarok from a supply drop in Trabia. We managed to raise her about five minutes ago and she's ready to bring in an airstrike."

"I'll bet she's tickled pink at a chance to unleash unholy havoc on these fucking bastards." Zell muttered grimly before sprinting off to gather the best SeeD's he could find. He immediately decided to bring them to the armoury as he had a sneaking suspicion he'd need a lot of firepower.

* * *

In the foothills of the Balamb Mountains, Major Marcus Foxton scanned Balamb Garden through a pair of high powered binoculars before turning to the nearest mortar team.

"Fire." He ordered before watching with satisfaction as the mortar round scored a direct hit on the canteen, blowing the windows out and causing the entirety of the roof to cave in.

* * *

Zell had decided that in addition to their primary weaponry, every member of his team was to carry an M4 assault rifle, complete with night vision sights and the M203 under barrel grenade launcher. Irvine's sniper team had moved to elevated positions and were ready to cover the counterattack. Zell's team had to move through a dense pine forest before they could launch their attack.

"Keep your eyes open." Zell ordered quietly. "Watch the peripheral and check where you put your feet. This stinks of an ambush."

It wasn't long before Zell's suspicions were borne out. One of his team triggered a trip wire and it was Seifer who saved the day by tackling the SeeD, bringing her crashing down as the mine strapped to a tree exploded. Had it not been for Seifer, the SeeD probably would've been decapitated. The explosion was very loud and in addition to the puff of smoke a sky rocket streaked upwards and exploded in a shower of green sparks. The mine had obviously been rigged to alert the attackers to the direction to counter attack would come from.

"There goes the element of surprise." Zell muttered. "Okay, now that we've been rumbled I'll expect nothing less than gratuitous violence from the lot if you. You get stuck in, you kick their fucking teeth out or I promise you they will be having your bollocks for breakfast."

"Hard boiled or fried?" Seifer enquired interestedly.

"Scrambled." Zell replied with a slightly twisted smile. "We are now up against live and hostile targets whom are well aware that we are coming. Just remember, they've attacked our home and I for one am not going to let these fuckers get away with it. Are you with me?"

"Let's put them in the ground." Seifer spoke for the entire group.

The team did find out very quickly there was a world of difference between saying it and actually doing so. As soon as they emerged from the tree line they were opened up on by several machine gun nests. As they were trained the SeeD members dropped, dug in and started to return fire. Two of them were not quick enough and were mowed down by streams of hot lead. All the while the mortar teams and men armed with rocket propelled grenade launchers continued their bombardment of Balamb Garden. Zell was just sighting on one of the mortars when one of the men operating it was sent cartwheeling backwards, blood erupting from his head as if he'd been shot by a high powered sniper rifle. As Zell drilled the other man at the mortar with a trio of head shots Irvine's sniper teams started picking out their targets with expert precision.

Bolstered by the sniper team's efforts, Zell's team began to counterattack with a vengeance. Seifer and Zell found themselves lying prone next to each other and they exchanged one glance, quickly formulating a plan to deal with the nearest machine gun nest. They both fired their grenade launchers and the projectiles fell directly into the nest, blowing it and its occupants into oblivion. In spite of their mutual enmity the brawler and former Sorceress' Knight exchanged a high five. They covered their embarrassment by reloading and continuing the fire fight.

Foxton meanwhile had decided to take cover behind the mortar teams and to take pot shots with his revolver at anything he saw moving. He wasn't a coward but he wasn't a fool either and he knew that if Balamb Garden's personnel got a hold of him they'd probably save themselves the trouble of detaining and trying him by arranging a painful accident. Before long Foxton found himself lying prone next to his current employer.

"If you want to get inside Balamb Garden I'd guess now is as good a time as any." He said before firing shot that missed Seifer's head by inches.

"I suppose so." Gaston Obsidian replied. "Give me ten minutes Major and I'll make sure you're paid." With that, Gaston slid off into the night. Foxton continued doing what he was paid to do, scoring a headshot on one SeeD who'd shown his head too long.

Zell meanwhile was beginning to wonder if they were going to get out of this. He had every confidence that his force outclassed the opposition but no amount of skill and magic could compensate for five to one odds. He was seriously considering calling in an airstrike when he realised that the radio was being carried by a SeeD who'd been killed after recklessly trying to take out one of the machine gun nests. He'd practically been cut in half before the machine gunners noticed that he'd tossed a grenade into the nest with them. The body was stuck in the no-man's land and the radio was with it. There was no way Zell could get to it without being turned into a human colander. Zell crawled over to where Seifer was vying with a pair of snipers.

"I need to get to that radio to call in an airstrike!" He yelled over the cacophony. "I'll need someone to cover me, and don't get me started on the irony of asking you."

"I can give you anything you ask for." Seifer replied as he finally lost patience and immolated both snipers with a well-aimed shot from his grenade launcher. "When I make my move, go for the radio."

Zell wasn't entirely sure what Seifer had planned but something about the taller man's face suggested no would not be a good time to argue. The brawler stripped off his kit, as it would only slow him down and he fluently cursed whatever higher power had seen fit to entrust this missions chances of success to Seifer Almasy. Zell kept his eyes on Seifer who winked before leaping to his feet and charging forwards, spraying bullets in the general direction of any target that posed a threat. The ground leapt up around Seifer but he didn't stop until he dived headfirst into a machine gunner's nest. Seifer shot one man before grabbing the other by his head and snapping his neck with one powerful twist. Then Seifer seized the machine gun and turning it around opened up on the mortar teams giving Zell the time he needed.

Zell dived flat as he reached the corpse and grabbed the radio while Seifer raked his unfortunate targets, hollering very creative verbal abuse at the top of his lungs. Alone among his men Foxton was the only one who'd realised that Seifer was a distraction and he quickly noticed Zell

"He's calling in air support." Foxton growled to himself distastefully. "What a bunch of women." Foxton quickly reloaded his revolver and sighted down the barrel. One or two shots would ruin the radio while another would blow Zell's brains out. Foxton stood up and his finger was creaking on the trigger when he heard a sound he didn't expect. It was the sound of a motorcycle engine. Foxton turned towards the sound and saw a bike coming straight for him, headlights blazing. The rider, an attractive young blond woman leapt off and immediately ripped the heads off the nearest mortar team with her bare hands. The driver however seized Foxton by the scruff of his neck and accelerated across the landscape.

"Hello again Foxton!" Dante Skyle bellowed cheerfully. "It's always a pleasure to kick your ass!"

Foxton's response was to bring his revolver around and pushing it under Dante's rib cage he pulled the trigger. The shot would've killed a human but it only served to blast Dante off the bike and severely piss him off. Dante grinned as he faced Foxton off. Before Foxton could fire again Dante was on him and he twisted the gun out of Foxton's hand and tossed it aside.

* * *

James Renton was currently pacing his cell and wondering what all the commotion was bout when the guard's body was thrown into his line of sight, a massive hole torn in his chest. A young man followed, carrying the guard's heart that he contemptuously tossed aside. Renton regarded the new arrival warily. There was something about the look of sadistic glee on his face that scared the hell out of the weapons dealer turned vampire.

"Who are you?" Renton asked.

"My name is Gaston Obsidian." The man said cheerfully. "I believe you know my big bro Swift."

"Swift sent you?" Renton guessed before gesturing at the lock on the door. "What are you waiting for? Get me out of here."

If Renton had done his homework on the Obsidian family he would've known that Gaston would only ever smile like he was doing when a bloody shower of violence was imminent.

* * *

"Why do you always try to kill me?" Foxton demanded as he dodged Dante's right cross and retaliated with an elbow to the jaw. "Do I have to spell it out for you? Listen carefully. I cannot be killed by supernatural creatures. Vampires. Demons. Witches. Warlocks. Even a Sorceress cannot kill me permanently."

"That's why you're so much fun to fight." Dante replied as he flipped Foxton to the ground and shaped up to stomp his larynx in. "I can kill you one way and you keep coming back so I can kill you again and again. I like that."

"Well maybe if you kill me enough times I might stay dead." Foxton suggested as he rolled aside and kicked Dante's legs from under him. "I'm not sure how this whole thing works. If that is the case. I'll see you in hell."

Dante rolled to the side and broke away before getting to his feet and facing Foxton off with his feet apart and centre of gravity low. Foxton got up as well and drew his combat knife. Dante's face morphed into that of a vampire and he pulled out his own knife. He and Foxton circled weighing each other up. Then they proceeded to charge head on at each other. Foxton seized a handful of Dante's shirt and dragging him forward started to stab him repeatedly in the gut. Dante roared in pain and lashed out, slicing a shallow but long cut across Foxton's throat and then he punched the other man in the chest knocking him backwards. Foxton smiled at the blood staining Dante's shirt and lunged forwards again. Dante immediately stopped his progress by unleashing back kick to Foxton's midriff, cracking at least three ribs and throwing him off his feet. Foxton coughed painfully but he rolled aside to avoid Dante who was descending towards him, knife first. Foxton kicked upwards, getting Dante in the kidneys before he stabbed Dante in the thigh with his knife. Dante roared in pain and grabbing Foxton hauled him upright before head butting him in the face and throwing him nearly ten metres away. He yanked the knife out of his leg and licked the blood off before throwing it at Foxton. Foxton ducked to avoid it and forced himself to his feet. Suddenly he seemed a lot less sure of himself, facing off an armed and mightily pissed off vampire with his bare hands.

"Get your knife." Dante ordered him. "Pick it up and come and have another go. Go on Foxton, I dare you."

Foxton obliged, scooping up the knife before charging headlong at Dante, his anger taking over. He chopped wildly at Dante, forcing the vampire backwards. Dante retaliated by stabbing at Foxton's neck. Foxton turned his body so that the knife dug into his shoulder instead. Then he stabbed his own knife deep into Dante's throat. Dante howled in pain and collapsed. Foxton laughed sadistically as he seized the knife handle and twisted it, causing Dante to let out a string of profanity and a torrent of screams.

"I happen to like decapitation." Foxton informed Dante. "If it's any consolation I feel very close to you right now."

Meanwhile Zell had managed to raise Selphie on the radio and was currently relaying the coordinates to her. Selphie piloted the Ragnarok into a vertical dive while the SeeD forced dived for cover. Dante and Foxton were out of range but in a weird twist of fate Alice dived into a machine gun nest that was already occupied by her ex-boyfriend Seifer Almasy.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Seifer demanded.

If Alice replied, he never heard it because as Selphie swooped down she opened fire. The Ragnarok unleashed its full payload of seventy two Hellfire missiles, thirty four Paveway laser guide bombs and two thousand rounds of high explosive cannon fire, fired at a rate of ten rounds a second. By the time Selphie was finished the whole area looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. Miraculously, Alice and all the remaining SeeD's survived the airstrike, although they were temporarily deafened.

Dante's future was not looking nearly as rosy. Foxton was twisting the knife and sawing through what was left of his neck when someone decided to intervene. Zell had noted that Dante had saved his life so he, Alice and Seifer had decided to lend a hand. Seifer tackled Foxton and Zell punched him savagely in the face. Foxton punched Seifer in the face and shoved Zell aside but before he could capitalise on the advantage Alice attacked and promptly ripped both his arms off at the shoulder. Then before Foxton could react she punched into his chest and tore his heart out.

"Good of you to stop by." Dante growled as he tore the knife from his throat. "A little help wouldn't go amiss."

"No problem." Zell said as he pulled out a knife and sliced his forearm open. "You saved my life, so I guess I should return the favour." He held out his arm to Dante who hungrily sealed his mouth over the wound. After several seconds Alice and Seifer gently but firmly pulled Dante of Zell before examining his neck wound.

"He'll be okay for now but I think he should see a doctor." Alice said knowledgeably as she helped Dante sit up. "Preferably one that knows his species as lack of a heartbeat might raise a few questions. His mental state could be a bit messed up. I've never heard of a vampire suffering PTSD but hey, stranger things."

"This hurts like a royal bitch." Dante growled pain evident on his face. "Some morphine wouldn't go amiss."

"I think he's fine mentally." Seifer observed as he fished a syringe of morphine from his belt kit and locating a vein in the crook of Dante's arm pumped the drug into him. "I have a few questions for you Alice but I have to help Dante first. He's a mate."

* * *

"Okay then." Seifer said as he faced Alice over a table in a conference room. "Would you like to tell me what you're doing here?"

"Dante didn't want me to tell you but he's not here to stop me." Alice said. "If I were you I'd get the whole gang in so they can hear it for themselves. I mean everyone who matters when the subject is some pretty earth shattering revelations revolving around a certain Squall Leonhart."

Ten minutes later Alice stood up, watched by Seifer, Quistis, Rinoa, Selphie, Zell, Irvine, Cid and Edea. Alice smiled and chuckled as she imagined their reaction to what she was about to tell them. She expected gratuitous amounts of denial, tears and death threats but she was confident that she could handle herself against everyone with the possible exception of the Sorceress Rinoa Heartilly.

"Okay listen up." Alice said confidently. "What I'm about to tell you will sound like I'm cracking some sort of sick joke. Believe me I am not. I realise I haven't given you many reason to trust me and I am sorry for that but you must believe that I am telling you the truth. Dante can back me up when the doctor discharges him. No matter how fantastic what I'm about to tell you sounds, please trust that I am telling the truth."

"Well spit out then." Seifer said. "The sooner you're out of here the better."

"Get over yourself Seifer." Alice snapped before composing herself and deciding to just come out with it. "Squall Leonhart is alive." She's expected an outburst of anger or surprise but the dead silence in the room was far more unnerving. Alice sat down and examined her nails while she waited for a less enigmatic reaction. It was Rinoa who found her voice first.

"And your evidence for that statement is what?" She asked with a surprisingly steady voice.

"Swift told me." Alice said simply. "I know what you're thinking but Swift doesn't lie, at least not about things like that. I haven't clapped eyes on him myself but Swift has and he's got nothing to gain by lying. Believe me, I've tried to find a reason and I've come up empty."

"Are you sure it's not that Old One that tried to kidnap Quistis and I?" Rinoa asked. "I was there when he was killed but then again it was very traumatic. How can I be sure of what I saw?"

"Permit me to say that you sound like you're grasping at straws." Alice said. "The first thing Dante and I did when we got here was dig up the Old One's grave and we found his skeleton. That's pretty compelling evidence that the individual Swift encountered was the real, accept no substitutes Squall Leonhart. I'm also well aware that there's four people in this room who aren't particularly surprised by this. Would any of you care to offer an explanation as to why?"

"Four months ago, Selphie, Irvine, Zell and myself performed a resurrection spell at what was left of Battleship Island." Edea said with surprising composure. "After my Sorceress powers were permanently supressed by Doctor Odine, I got into witchcraft which I quickly realised I had a flair for. We performed the spell but seeing as it's been four months we just assumed it hadn't worked."

Rinoa immediately stood up and stormed out of the room. Alice watched her go and then nodded appreciatively.

"Now that's more like the kind of reaction I expected." She said brightly. "Here endeth the lesson."

"Zell, Selphie," Edea said, taking care not to pair Irvine with Selphie. "Go after Rinoa and see if she's okay. I think we should have another meeting about this tomorrow at nine o' clock."

Zell and Selphie didn't take long to find Rinoa. She was standing on the balcony of the ball room where she and Squall had shared their first kiss. She was looking out over the sea, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I may not be an expert on female emotions but I don't see why you're taking this so badly." Zell said. Before he could react Rinoa spun around and grabbing him by his lapels pinned him to the wall.

"Hey!" Selphie yelled as she tried to intervene. "Take it easy Rin!"

"You brought him back!" Rinoa snapped, pinning her forearm across Zell's throat. "You brought him back and you didn't tell me!"

"Well now you know." Zell replied as he gently but firmly broke free of Rinoa's hold. "We didn't tell you because…we just didn't okay."

"Listen I've figured it out." Rinoa snarled, hard, angry tears in her eyes. "Maybe you two haven't but I have! Edea knew there was a chance he'd come back wrong. So wrong that she'd have to get rid of what came back, and I wouldn't let her. If any part of it was Squall, I wouldn't let her. She shut me out."

"What are you talking about?" Selphie exclaimed. "Edea wouldn't do that."

"Oh is that right?" Rinoa snorted.

"Look you're just covering." Zell said soothingly. "Don't tell us you're not happy. Look me in the eyes and tell me that when you found out Squall was alive wasn't the happiest moment of your entire existence."

"There's no evidence he's back." Rinoa scoffed. "We've just got the word of an ancient vampire who's got any number of reasons to lie. And even if he is back…" Rinoa stormed off across the ballroom. "…that's the thing about witchcraft. There's always consequences. Always!"

* * *

**I cannot believe I got this done. Thanks a plenty go out to geelouxo and MissPhoenix18 for their endless support. I hope to hear from them again and I'm reduced to praying someone else will review, but I doubt it. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: A Little Information**

The following morning, Selphie wandered into the library and gave Alexis a jaunty wave before heading for the shelves devoted to magic related texts. Her assistant had been meant to pick up some textbooks but had clearly forgotten as her boyfriend was still on the critical list. Selphie scanned the shelves and quickly realised that the textbooks she needed were piled haphazardly on a shelf out of her reach. Selphie sighed in annoyance.

"This place discriminates against short people." The diminutive brunette grumbled as she went up on tip toes and got a finger to the books. Unfortunately she also managed to dislodge all of them and the heavy books cascaded down, hitting Dante who was crouched at the bottom of the shelves. Selphie was mortified and she stammered apologies as she bent down to gather them up.

"It's okay, I'm okay." Dante said to no one in particular as he stood up rubbing his head and grimacing. "Well, that was bracing."

"I'm so sorry." Selphie exclaimed, trying her utmost to sound sincere. "The books were all so high and then everything was bad…"

"Forget it." Dante said as he bent down and helped her retrieve the books. "I'm used to people around here wanting me dead, though I didn't expect anyone to try and off me by dropping some books on my bean. Love the new hair by the way."

"Thanks." In the four months they hadn't seen each other Selphie had grown her hair longer and while it had darkened considerably it had developed a distinct reddish tinge, leaving it halfway between auburn and brown. "I'd say the same but truth be told I've never liked the Billy Idol look."

"There's no shortage of girls that like the look." Dante shrugged running a hand over his platinum blond hair. "Bad boy, you know. Gets them all buttery in their nether regions. Say, you didn't happen to drop those books on my head because you didn't like my new do?"

"Sorry." Selphie said weakly before noticing the amused look on Dante's features. "How come you're here? Reading books imply an appreciation for culture and you don't strike me as the type."

"As you may or may not know I was almost decapitated by the illustrious Major Marcus Foxton recently." Dante explained. "Well although my wound is almost completely healed the Doctor wants to keep me in the infirmary for a few days, apparently for observation, vampire constitution be damned. I came here to get some books to read while I was there but so far I'm not coming up with much."

"Well what sort of stuff do you like?" Selphie asked.

"I really don't know." Dante admitted. "I've been so busy trying to stay alive and dreaming up elaborate ways to kill Swift and Alexander I've never had time to read much in the way of books. I don't suppose you could recommend anything?"

"You're talking to the right person." Selphie said as she led him to the fiction section and quickly selected three books of similar size. "Behold, what is widely recognised as the book of the century."

"I may be wrong but that looks like three books." Dante pointed out before grimacing at his directness. "News from the file marked; duh."

"Maybe but they all encompass one work together, as a trilogy of sorts." Selphie explained patiently. "You may have heard of it. _The Lord of the Rings _by J.R.R. Tolkien. It's my belief everyone should read it at least once in their life."

"I don't know." Dante said eyeing the books dubiously. "I've seen the movies so I know how it all ends."

"The movies left a lot of things out, including my favourite minor character." Selphie told him. "His name was Tom Bombadil and he's a fellow after my own heart."

"Tom Bombadil?" Dante echoed, arching an eyebrow to indicate that he considered that name pretty ludicrous.

"Well if you don't want to read it them there's other stuff we can find." Selphie said before he face lit up and a mischievous light twinkled in her emerald green eyes. "We can ask Rinoa to lend you the complete _Twilight _saga!"

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Dante asked, injecting an ominous edge into his voice.

"Allow me some jokes." Selphie returned acidly. "It's the least you can do after failing to let us know that Squall is back among the living at the first opportunity."

If Dante was surprised at Selphie's knowledge of Squall's return to life then he hid it remarkably well. It also took his less than two seconds to work out where she'd heard it from and Selphie was surprised by his reaction. She'd expected an outburst of anger but Dante seemed almost uninterested.

"Well Alice sucks at keeping secrets." He sighed before running a hand down his face. "I guess everyone else knows by now."

"You guess correctly." Selphie nodded. "Quistis has a meeting scheduled for nine tonight where you and your partner in vampire crime will have a lot of explaining to do. I sure hope you manage to satisfy Rinoa because believe me, she looks like she's in the mood to do some pretty serious damage."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that, I can handle her." Dante said patronizingly before grinning wickedly. "If the worst comes to the worst, I'll jump into bed with her again. She certainly didn't complain the last time around. Thanks for the books."

Selphie let out a loud sigh of annoyance as Dante swaggered off out of the library looking immensely pleased with himself. Out of all of her friends Selphie guessed that she's probably had the least amount of direct contact with Dante (the battle against the Manticore notwithstanding) but he didn't seem to let that stop him pushing her buttons.

"I cannot believe you slept with that Philistine, Rin." Selphie muttered under her breath as she headed off to her class.

* * *

When Nina regained consciousness she found herself lying on a cold stone floor. She frowned as she crawled into a sitting position and looked around. The last thing she remembered was following Dante and Alice out of the nightclub they'd elected to join forces in. Then she'd been jumped from behind and her attacker had clearly brought her here. She turned her head and very nearly passed out again when she found herself staring into the dark blue eyes of Alexander Obsidian whom was crouched next to her. Despite the fact she'd fallen into the clutches of one of very few people she was scared of Nina decided to feign nonchalance.

"Hello Alexander," She said forcing what she hoped was a winning smile. "It's good to see you again."

"Oh don't say that." Alexander retorted, grinning like a loon. "I usually prefer people begging for their lives, or begging me to stop hitting them with their own rib bones. I wonder where you'll come into the equation."

"Me?" Nina said, trying to sound indignant despite the fact she was certain where Alexander was going with this. The picture that was forming was one of potential disaster. "What did I do?"

"You're not stupid Nina so don't insult my intelligence by acting like it." Alexander said pleasantly and for the first time Nina could see the madness lurking in his eyes. He was definitely two waves short of a shipwreck. "You and your husband, not to mention by personal pain in the neck have banded together with a view to killing me. I quite like being alive, figuratively speaking, so you must be able to see why I'm opposed to letting that happen."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nina said, deciding to go with the time honoured method of feigning forgetfulness.

"Nice try Nina but you might as well face it." Another voice said as Swift walked into her field of vision idly twirling his gun blade. "You're had it. You're going down. Don't tell me you've forgotten our little conversation with Dante. You know the one where I told you to stay away from my brother before I beat the pair of you into unconsciousness."

"I have a couple of questions about that." Nina asked, deciding to make the most of the fact she wouldn't be leaving this warehouse with all her extremities intact. "Why didn't you kill us?"

"Oh I wanted to, believe me." Swift chuckled. "I really wanted to, but then in what I can only describe as a moment of brotherly solidarity I thought it'd be a lot more fun to watch Alexander degrade the pair of you."

"That's very sweet of you brother." Alexander cooed, his eyes on Nina. "So Nina, how about it? How would you like me to torture you? I have my ways but if you come up with a better idea I'm all ears."

"Why don't you surprise me?" Nina replied disinterestedly. "If I'm dead I won't have to listen to you about whining about how everyone hates you."

"No one goes in for audience participation these days." Alexander grumbled. "It's a crying shame. I tell you what Nina, take this ickle bodkin…" He handed her a switchblade "… and stab yourself repeatedly in the leg while I get ready for a marathon torture session. If you get bored, switch legs."

"Why are you doing this?" Nina demanded.

"Mainly because I can." Alexander said cheerfully, his eyes shining bright with sadistic glee. "I don't hear stabbing. Don't make me do it for you."

"Look Alexander," Nina said before growling in pain as she drove the point of the knife into her thigh and wrenched it out again. "If you're going to kill me, then get on with it and get it over with."

"If I was going to kill you I wouldn't do it quickly." Alexander said pleasantly. "As well as plotting my downfall you hurt my feelings and then managed to evade me for the last eight decades. I'm going to ensure you suffer for at least twice that."

"You're wasting time dealing with me." Nina warned. "Believe me, you've got bigger fish to fry."

"Ah yes you'd be referring to the big, bad, demon that's masquerading as Squall Leonhart wouldn't you?" Alexander said before using his fingers to form the shape of a phone. "Bring! Oh I wonder who this could be. Alexander Obsidian speaking. Well now, that's very interesting. Bye now. You see Nina, my friend on the phone has told me that I'm dealing with the real Squall Leonhart. He's human, meaning I can rip him apart without even stretching first."

"You're crazy."

"Well all the geniuses were a little unhinged." Alexander snorted dismissively as he put a record on a turntable and allowed strains of classical music to fill the air. "Look at Beethoven. I actually had a drink with him before he went gaga. However back to the here and now. It's a simple matter to cause someone, even a vampire more pain than they can possibly endure and I feel it doesn't challenge me. I could send you Quor-Toth but that would probably result in your untimely death which I have no control over. The reason it was such a fitting punishment for Dante was because he has this pathological reluctance to just be a good boy and die. It's rather pesky now I think on it."

"You're telling me." Nina muttered under her breath.

"Keep stabbing yourself." Alexander said warningly. "No I don't think Quor-Toth is appropriate for you. Tell me, did Dante tell you about what I did to him before I sent him to Quor-Toth, discounting the brass knuckles and red hot pokers?"

"You what?" Nina asked uncomprehendingly, cocking her head at Alexander and noticing Swift was looking similarly nonplussed.

"What are you talking about Alexander?" Swift asked and Nina was oddly comforted by the distinct note of disquiet in his voice. "Don't you think sending him to an unspeakable hell dimension was bad enough?"

"Not even close enough." Alexander replied brightly. "People like Dante Skyle need to be taught a big lesson. Now please shut up, I'm thinking."

"Tell me Alexander." Swift said seizing Alexander by the shoulder. "What else did you do to him?"

"Do you really want to know?" Alexander said before seizing Swift's wrist and twisting it around viciously, forcing him to bend double. Alexander used his free hand to clamp down on Swift's shoulder. "I'm thinking, so shut up unless you want me to dislocate your shoulder. Believe me I'm well past the point where you can keep me in line with intimidation and physical violence brother." He spoke the last word with unmistakeable malevolence. Then he turned back to Nina, still holding Swift fast. "Now where were we?"

* * *

In the Esthar Presidential Palace, Squall was awoken by a deafening sound like cannon fire that turned out to be the monolithic figure of Presidential Aide Ward Zabac shoulder barging his bedroom door hard enough to break it off its hinges, deadbolt or no deadbolt. Squall sat bolt upright as Ward, Kiros and Ellone entered.

"Wuzzgoingon?" Squall said before being blinded by Kiros flipping on the lights.

"Now that we have your attention," Ellone said gleefully. "I think we should have a little chat darling brother."

* * *

At five to nine that evening, the conference room was occupied by Quistis, Seifer, Zell, Irvine, Selphie, Cid, Edea and Xu who were seated around one end of the conference table. Rinoa and Alice were also present. Rinoa was sitting apart from the others. Alice was sitting at the far end of the table, examining her nails and pointedly ignoring everyone else until Dante put in an appearance.

"Where the hell is he?" Irvine grumbled as he fingered his sidearm. "Typical Dante. He can never be on time for anything, even a meeting as important as this. Someone needs to call him on his timekeeping."

"Maybe but he'll be here," Seifer said quietly. "But I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself. Picking a fight with a vampire that's as highly trained as him is never a clever thing to do unless you're an ancient vampire, a walking slag heap or a psycho who's one hundred percent invincible against supernatural creatures. Come to think of it we should form a death squad to head out and kill Foxton once and for all. The guy is really starting to bug me in that special I-want-to-cut-his-bollocks-off-and–feed-them-to-hi m way."

"We'll get around to it." Cid said confidently. "There's nowhere Foxton can hide from us. For now however, we need to have this meeting."

"Provided Dante gets here this decade." Irvine muttered under his breath.

Shortly thereafter the door opened and Dante walked in, dressed in his usual attire with his self-confident smirk firmly in place. He took a seat next to Alice facing the rest of the room. He propped his boots up on the desk and after taking a mouthful of blood from his hip flask he slid a cigarette between his lips, lit up, took a drag and blew a smoke ring across the room. Everyone's eyes followed it as it bounced of the "No Smoking" sign.

"That was excellent." Seifer said in an undertone to Selphie.

"Right let's get this meeting underway." Dante said evenly. "I understand Alice told you that Squall Leonhart is still alive. I want you to know, first and foremost, I was opposed to telling you because I didn't know all the facts. Thanks to Alice you know now, and I can't help that. That said, you have very little reason to trust her, and I can't blame you. Hopefully more of you will trust me. Alive has only heard about Squall's return from Swift. Swift has no logical reason to lie about it but Swift has his moments where he doesn't do logic. I am different. I've actually seen Squall with my own eyes."

"And you didn't tell us?" Rinoa exploded out of her chair and glared daggers at Dante who held her gaze. "When was this?"

"A few days ago in Esthar." Dante said brightly. "To risk another frown line encroaching on a number of very crowded foreheads Alice and I are not the only ones who know about this. Nina saw him at the same time I did but she did a runner the moment she saw him, no doubt under the impression he was the Old One known as Omega. The other people who know are Ellone, President Loire and his ambassadors, Seagill and Zabac. Oh and the giant rock demon who turned the entrance hall of the Presidential Palace into his own personal abattoir."

"Is that thing following you around?" Seifer demanded.

"Who knows?" Dante waved a hand dismissively. "It's not important right now. My guess is that you want to know why I didn't tell you that Squall was back among the living. The reason is very simple and hopefully I should stop you all hating me for holding back." His eyes lingered momentarily on Irvine. "I didn't tell you because Squall didn't want me to. In fact he actively tried to stop me."

"Oh really?" Irvine sneered. "Now you obey him, because you always did what he told you to do before."

"Can somebody gag him?" Dante said, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face for the first time. "I'm warning you now Irvine, if you push me I may well have to rip your vocal cords out. I'd like to open the floor to questions."

"Why would Squall ask you to do keep quiet?" Quistis enquired. "Why would he want to keep his resurrection from us?"

"I can't say for sure because he sure as hell isn't an easy bloke to pin down." Dante said before stubbing out his cigarette by flicking it through a desk fan that decimated it in a pleasing shower of embers. "I can give you my theories. Squall has got a serious mad on for Alexander Obsidian. He's on the warpath and big time. I guess he's hoping to fool Alexander into thinking that's all he cares about, so Alexander won't go after you guys. I think Squall's planning on killing Alexander and then figuring out where he stands with you."

"That does make sense." Edea mused approvingly.

"How did you two end up working together?" Rinoa asked shooting a glare burning with hostility at Alice. "Do you remember what she did to you?"

"He hasn't forgotten, seeing as he's still got the marks." Alice broke in before Dante could answer. "We joined forces because we have a mutual interest in stopping Squall killing Alexander."

"Because he's your brother." Zell growled. "He may be your brother but he's also a world class lunatic with apocalypse on the brain. I hate to burst your bubble bitch, but your precious Alexander is a legitimate target of Balamb Garden and sooner or later we'll find a way of killing him. When that happens, I'd advise you to get out of the way or we'll do the same to you."

"You really don't help yourself do you?" Alice growled before she dashed forward, faster than the eye can follow and grabbing Zell by the throat lifted him off his feet. "Let me make myself clear. You do not threaten me. Is that understood?"

"He understands Alice but we do have a problem." Dante growled. "I'm opposed to letting Squall kill Alexander because I dearly want to do it myself. That leaves us with a problem."

"You're right," Alice said, allowing her vampire face to come for the fore as she turned towards Dante. "So now what?"

"Alexander should really keep a closer eye on his possessions." Dante said as he unstopped the Obsidian Urn bearing Alice's name and jammed the spike on the underside of the stopper between her breasts and through her sternum before yanking it back out. Alice simply stared at Dante as if she couldn't believe what had happened. Dante stepped back as Alice disappeared in a cloud of dust that disappeared into the Urn. He replaced the stopper and handed the Urn to Edea. "Put this somewhere safe, and make sure it isn't opened. If it is, I've got the life expectancy of a hamburger at a weight watchers convention."

"Well you'll forgive us if we don't shed any tears." Irvine muttered under his breath. Before Dante could lunge over the table and tear Irvine a few new holes he was interrupted by Quistis.

"I believe we know why Marcus Foxton and his men attacked Garden." Quistis said shooting both Dante and Irvine warning looks. "What I'm about to tell you goes no further than this room. It appears the attack was a diversion to allow someone or something to enter Garden undetected and make their way to the detention block. I was heading down to talk to James Renton and I find the SeeD on duty dead, with his heart across the room. Then there was Renton who was all over the place. Dante, do vampires have extra blood and guts because there's no way all that Steven King came out of one guy?"

"Renton's dead?" Dante echoed.

"Very." Quistis nodded. "It wasn't a very pretty sight to say the very least. We've hosed down the area and notified the dead SeeD's family but we think Renton may have had something."

"What makes you say that?" Dante asked. "What sort of something?"

"We don't know." Quistis slid a colour photograph of Renton's remains towards Dante who went pale at the sight of it, in spite of his resistance to squeamishness. "Whoever killed him emptied out his head to find it."

"I hate to jump to the worst possible conclusion but this is Alexander Obsidian's modus operandi." Dante turned the photo over. "Squall may have wanted to keep you guys out of his beef with Alexander, but I've got news for you. The Obsidian family aren't finished with you yet."

"Speaking of Squall what do we do about him?" Seifer asked. "We cannot possibly entertain the possibility of letting him loose on Alexander. He's human. He's got no chance."

"I wouldn't say he's got no chance." Dante replied. "Squall is tough but if he goes up against Alexander _we_ can't win. If Alexander wins we lose Squall, again. If Squall wins, I lose my chance at revenge, a chance I guess most people in this room would give their right arm for. My personal opinion is that we should go to Esthar, kidnap Squall and then leave him with Rinoa for a nice, safe, snog. Leave the real violence to the demons like myself, Quistis and people like us."

"Forget it!" Rinoa snapped belligerently. "I trust you Dante, so I believe Squall's back but I still deserve a chance to throw pretty serious hurt Alexander's way. He deserves a slow, torturous, death that I will enjoy applying. Remember when we killed Adrian? I said I was going to see this through and I meant it." Rinoa raised a hand and small lightning bolts crackled between her fingers. "You go ahead and you try to stop me."

"Sometimes I forget how scary you can be." Dante remarked admiringly. "So we need to decide what to do. Do we go after Alexander before Squall finds him or do we grab Squall?"

"Wait a second." Irvine said, glaring at Dante. "Don't tell me we're going to work with Darth Vampire yet again?"

"Why not?" Seifer exclaimed leaping to Dante's defence. "I don't think SeeD has enough firepower to take out Alexander without a major ass-kicking. Lots of bodies. We need Dante to help with the heavy lifting and minimise collateral damage."

"Need him?" Irvine scoffed incredulously. "We don't need him!"

"Stand down Irvine." Selphie ordered.

"No, please let him speak." Dante raised a hand. "I'd quite like to hear this so go ahead Irvine. Vent. Spit it out."

"Fine I'll spit it out!" Irvine stood up, kicked his chair out of the way and stalked around the table until he and Dante were nose to nose. "You may have helped us in the past, so nearly everyone here was a problem with killing you the moment you turn your back. I don't. You're a vampire, nothing more than an animal and the world would be a damn sight better without your kind. You're also the sole reason one of my best friends is also a vampire and that alone is enough reason for me to kill you. I know I don't have the power to stop you working with Garden but the moment you cease to be of use…" Irvine never finished the sentence because Dante punched him hard enough to throw him the length of the room to smash into the door. Irvine lunged to his feet and yanked out his sidearm. Before he could bring it around and fire Dante was on him. He tore the gun out of Irvine's hand and knocked him cold with a swift rabbit punch to the forehead. He turned to the others and grinned crookedly.

"I take it back." He said matter-of-factly. "I didn't want to hear that. I'm staying in the honeymoon suite at the Balamb Hotel and I believe Quistis still has my mobile number. Call me when you've decided what to do."

* * *

**Sorry this took so long but it was a very important chapter. I'd like to thank geelouxo and MissPhoenix18 for their never ending support. You guys are the best honestly. I hope you'll keep reviewing and as for anyone else who's reading this, I'd love to hear from you.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: New Alliances**

The following Friday night, Selphie's insatiable need for fun boiled over and she decided to go out to a club in Balamb, the very same one Quistis had met Dante outside of a life time ago. She had been a little over-optimistic about any of her friends wanting to come along. Selphie wouldn't invite Irvine, and Quistis was far too busy to make time for socialising. Rinoa wasn't in the mood to say the very least so it was only Zell who offered to accompany her. They headed over to the bar when they entered and were both waiting for the bartenders to notice them when a familiar figure shouldered his way through the crowd and smiled at them.

"Well, well," Dante drawled. "What do I spy with my little eye? I though you two would be snowed under deciding what to do about ancient vampires and a resurrected gun blade wielding douchebag."

"Watch your mouth." Zell said warningly. "I'll tolerate your presence because you saved my life but Squall is a friend of mine and I'm not about to just sit here and let you badmouth him."

"Well pardon me for not seeing eye to eye with the man." Dante grunted. "I tell you what. How about I buy you two a couple of drinks and you can tell me what's going on at Garden on the whole Obsidian family versus Squall Leonhart front. Have you decided to try and make contact with Squall yet?"

"No but we have been working on the whole thing." Selphie spoke up. "Quistis has finally decided to go public, offering a pretty substantial bounty for information leading to the capture or killing of Gaston, Swift or Alexander Obsidian. Needless to say she's left out the part about exactly _what _they are. She thinks that might draw Squall out. If so, we grab him and grill him over why he didn't tell us he was back. I'm personally very interested and I get the impression Rinoa will cut his crown jewels off with a chainsaw if she isn't satisfied."

"There's an image I could've lived without." Dante smiled. "Sounds like a plan, but I doubt it'll work."

"Is there any reason it shouldn't?" Zell challenged him. "Quistis knows what she's doing and she's very good at it."

"I know that." Dante retorted. "You forget I was more or less living with her, on and off for easily a year. I just think there's a world of difference between talking about capturing Squall and actually doing it. You see I get the impression that Squall's main reason to exist is to kill Alexander and I think he might find that a little hard to do that in Balamb Garden custody, you follow? It's his primary vocation and everything else comes second. He was so obsessed with killing Alexander back in Esthar, well I'm not sure he won't hurt you and I quite like the pair of you so I'm opposed to just letting him do so."

"We're flattered." Selphie deadpanned. "I think Quistis has probably thought of this. In fact, if I know Quistis she'll want your help capturing Squall. I happen to agree with that. Squall is one of the best warriors the world has ever seen and we're going to need some vampire muscle to subdue him. Are you interested?"

"I was the last person to have contact with Squall." Dante said. "I tried to get him to contact you but he was having none of it. I tried that because I thought it was for the best and that hasn't changed. If I can make him face up to you guys then I'll do it. I never liked Squall so if I have to biff him over the head with a baseball bat to make it happen, so much better."

"What did you and Squall talk about in Esthar?" Zell asked.

"I basically filled him in on everything that had happened since he died." Dante shrugged. "You know, the Obsidian family making mayhem, the Old One wearing his face, Swift's mysterious trials and so on. The important stuff."

"The important stuff?" Selphie echoed before sharing a mischievous look with Zell. "How did he react to you having a one night stand with Rinoa and then disappearing without even saying goodbye?"

"How do you think?" Dante grunted as he took a mouthful of beer. "He was pretty upset."

"You mean he started screaming and shouting?" Selphie guessed.

"Not exactly but he wasn't happy." Dante shrugged. "He punched me for turning Quistis, and then he punched me again for having sex with Rinoa. Then, just when I thought he was done, he punched me for not sticking around afterwards. I suppose you could argue I deserved it."

"Well they say acceptance of your mistakes is the first step on the road to recovery." Zell said brightly.

"Where did you come up with that pearl of wisdom?" Dante snorted dismissively. "A fortune cookie or something?"

"Actually I read it in a book about post-traumatic stress disorder a couple of weeks back." Zell answered, throwing a wary look at Selphie whose face was completely neutral.

"What were you researching that for?" Dante asked interestedly. "Bed time reading was it?"

"Not exactly no." Zell said determinedly avoiding Selphie's eye. "Since you left I've been dealing with a SeeD suffering the effects of being pumped full of lead during the battle on Battleship Island. I checked as much material out of the library as possible so I had a thorough understanding of the symptoms and effects."

"Oh really? And who…" Dante stopped talking as he joined the dots and noticed the subtle shift in Selphie's sense. "…Irvine. I might've known. While it explains a great many things; I'm sorry to hear that."

"You don't have to lie or feign sympathy on our account." Selphie said. "We know you hate Irvine."

"I don't hate him." Dante grunted. "To be honest I don't tend to give him much thought on way or the other. During my time with the Dollet Special Forces I saw plenty of guys end up with PTSD. Irvine doesn't deserve that. No one does. I should've recognised it before."

"Don't beat yourself up." Selphie said reasonably. "We all missed it. If anyone's taking it hard then its Doctor Kadowaki seeing as she signed the file saying he was tickety-boo."

"And you?" Dante said sympathetically as Zell headed off to dance, leaving Selphie alone with Dante. "How are you handling things?"

"I'm dealing with it." Selphie replied evenly. "Some days are harder than the really hard days but I'm hacking it."

"Glad to hear it." Dante said before pulling a scrap of paper out of his jacket and a pen. He quickly scribbled down a string of numbers before handing it to Selphie. "That's my mobile number, so if you ever want someone to talk to I'll be there. Believe me; I know more about PTSD then some textbook. I've seen people have it and, well I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I had it once upon a time."

"Really?" Selphie asked.

"Low level if I'm honest." Dante shrugged. "Remember the story I told you guys about my mate Jamie Fowler?"

"The guy who had a laughing devil tattooed on his ass." Selphie nodded. "It's not the sort of anecdote you forget in a hurry."

"Got to say I'm with you on that." Dante nodded. "It was him standing on an anti-tank mine and then picking him up and putting what was left of him in a bin bag that really set it off. I was okay really, but one of the other guys was a wreck. He was booted out on a medical and I had to talk him out of topping himself four times. It's not right but I guess it's part of being a human."

"Do you miss it?" Selphie asked quietly, watching Dante for a reaction. "Being human I mean?"

"There's a question I don't think I'll ever be able to answer." Dante grunted. "Being a vampire is by no means perfect but from what I remember humanity was no barrel of laughs either. Illness, vulnerability, bankruptcy. Although I do remember my heart." Dante smiled. "And the way it thumped when I kissed Nina for the first time. That was cool."

"So do you miss it?" Selphie pressed.

"Some of it." Dante nodded. "But I'm a vampire now and that's never going to change without a stake through the heart, sunlight, fire or decapitation. I'm stuck with it so I might as well make the most of it. Being nearly invincible is cool, and of course I like never getting any older. I like being the eternal stud."

"You think a lot of yourself don't you?" Selphie observed, trying to sound severe although the small smile on her face pretty much gave her away.

"Well let's take a look at my dating bio." Dante said defensively. "I've been in a relationship with Quistis and Alice, who it's fair to say, could have anyone they chose. I had sex with Rinoa and I'm still technically married to Nina. All four of them are pretty desirable individuals."

"Fair play to you." Selphie nodded. "You know Rinoa and I have a theory that a certain someone is sniffing around Quistis?"

"Seifer." Dante nodded. "He probably doesn't realise it himself but it's pretty obvious that he and Quistis are made for each other. When this whole thing with the Obsidian family is over I think we should have an intervention with the two of them."

"I agree that they're made for each other but I think a relationship between them is similar to wiring a plug while wearing boxing gloves." Selphie said. "It'll all end in tears. Seifer's human, Quistis is a vampire. I've watched enough vampire films and TV shows to know it never works."

"Well love isn't brains." Dante pointed out. "Personally I don't see fat grandkids in their future but I'm devout in my belief that they are meant to be together. We are honour bound as their friends to make it happen."

* * *

Later that night, a heavily disguised Squall Leonhart stepped off the train in Balamb station and looked around, checking everyone out and making sure no one was taking a special interest in him, exactly as he'd been trained. It had taken a good few hours but eventually Ellone, Kiros and Ward had convinced Squall to return to Balamb. Squall stepped onto the high road and started walking slowly down it, deliberately slowing his pace down so he didn't attract any undue attention. He stopped and walked into an off license and bought a small bottle of vodka. As he left he unscrewed the top and took a swig, allowing the fiery liquid to warn him from the inside and alleviate his nerves.

You'd be hard put to get him to admit it but Squall was not particularly anxious about returning to Balamb Garden. He was terrified. He'd seen the appeal for information about the whereabouts of the Obsidian family and that had been the final straw. Quistis had been on the news, making it perfectly clear that she would not rest until they were all captured or killed. In doing so, she'd placed herself firmly in their firing line. Squall didn't want Quistis hurt but if they came after her, the odds were pretty good that Alexander would show up. Ellone may think she'd convinced Squall to face his friends. Squall had decided that he'd hide out in Balamb Garden and wait for the fireworks to ensue. He wouldn't reveal his presence if he could avoid it, but all he needed was the smallest of openings. As far as Squall was concerned Swift and the others had done nothing to him. All he wanted was Alexander.

Squall headed to one of the industrial areas of Balamb near the harbour and quickly located a storage container. He fished a small key from his pocket and slid it into the padlock before opening the sliding door and stepping inside. Squall's own personal car was in the container. It was a black Alfa Romeo 8C Spider, hard top. While it had very high performance it was relatively discreet and you'd only give it a second glance if you were a die-hard petrol head. The car was unlocked as Squall had known it would be. He slid into the driver's seat before groping under the seat where the keys were taped to the underside. He drove slowly out of the container, and then closed and locked it behind him.

Squall rolled along the high street in Balamb at a fairly sedate thirty miles an hour but as soon as he left the town he accelerated up to approximately sixty. He obviously couldn't drive the car into the Parking Lot as the sudden appearance of the dead Commanders car would announce his return much the same as if he'd put it on a billboard or written it on the moon. Squall drove towards the monolithic structure of Balamb Garden atop it's equally enormous landing pad. He left the road at an angle and headed for a small wooded area. He stopped the car and using his gun blade cut several branches off the trees before using them to cover the car up. Next he stripped off his disguise and tossed it into the trunk. Then, using cover of darkness and the natural ability that allowed him to grab the top spot in the stealth and concealment class back when he was training he crept towards the main entrance.

As always, the main receptionist was sitting in his office while four guards armed with extendable batons, pepper spray, stun guns and assault rifles stood ready to stop anyone who approached. Squall knew that the receptionist would hit a button to sound an alarm the minute he saw Squall so he had to take him out first. Taking care not to be caught on the camera's Squall cast Triple of himself before casting three Sleep spells in quick succession. The receptionist and two of the guards were snoring before they hit the ground. The other two guards went on the alert instantly as Squall stood up. He hurled his gun blade at one. The end of the handle struck him in the middle of the forehead and he dropped. The other guard hesitated briefly as he recognised Squall. Squall jumped forwards and kicked the guard in the kidneys, knocking him sideways. Before the guard could defend himself Squall smashed his fist into the guard's temple, getting a good shot on the thinnest part of the skull. Unconsciousness was immediate, concussion certain. Squall quickly scooped up his gun blade and pulled out a small case containing five syringes filled with a clear liquid.

Squall quickly and clinically injected the guards and receptionist with a liquid drug that would royally screw up their short-term memory, making them unsure of anything they'd seen. Then Squall slid into the receptionists chair and turned towards a computer. He clicked the mouse to access the security mainframe. A window popped up, requesting a password but Squall wasn't unduly worried. He pulled out a small memory stick and slid it into the USB drive. Then he hacked into the security mainframe and set up a loop that would show nothing out of the ordinary on every camera in the building. Squall knew that Garden occasionally had people wandering around after curfew so he knew he had to think fast. There were several nooks and crannies in the Training Centre where Squall could hide out to think and plan his next move, so that's where he headed.

Squall was crouched in an alcove near the Secret Area, deep in thought when his soldier's intuition tingled. He cocked his head and quickly became aware of a rhythmic crunching coming towards him. Footsteps, he realised. Squall prepared to cast a Sleep spell in case the approaching person saw him but as they rounded a tree Squall was struck dumb.

It was Seifer, and what's more he was not wearing his trademark trench coat. Instead he was dressed in a cadet uniform, except his jacket was unzipped, revealing a white muscle shirt beneath. Incredible at it seemed the uniform could only mean one thing. Seifer was training as a SeeD. As Seifer approached a Grat exploded out of the bushes behind him. As Squall watched Seifer spun around and unsheathed the Hyperion. He easily deflected the tentacles before dancing forwards as the Grat spat a glob of stomach acid at him. Seifer then darted forwards. The Grat's tentacles whipped out to meet him but Seifer swung the Hyperion, cutting them cleanly in half. Not taking any chances, Seifer stabbed the Grat straight through its bulbous body and pulled the Hyperion's trigger. The unfortunate monster was blown apart. Seifer turned away from the remains and headed into the Secret Area, passing within a metre of Squall's hiding place. Squall was sorely tempted to follow Seifer in and either talk to him or hit him. After what had happened the last time they'd met both seemed quite appealing but Squall held himself in check. He couldn't blow all the effort he'd gone to in order to remain undetected.

It was when Seifer left the Secret Area that things went completely pear shaped. He was just passing Squall's hiding place when he suddenly went very still, exactly like an animal that had sensed danger. Then, to Squall's great disquiet his head turned towards the shrub behind which he was crouched. Squall held his breath and prayed Seifer would attribute his suspicions to tiredness.

God wasn't listening.

"Who's there?" Seifer said it quietly, but it still carried a threatening undercurrent that made Squall more and more uneasy. He decided to see what would happen if Seifer didn't get an answer. This was a bad move as Seifer then proceeded to draw his gun blade. Then he raised his voice. "I said; who's there?" He waited for a few second before raising his voice to a shout "Show yourself! Don't make me come and find you!"

Cursing silently, Squall unsheathed his own gun blade and rose to his feet before stepping around the shrub and faced Seifer. Squall knew that there was very little in the world that would surprise Seifer but he was still thrown by the lack of any discernible emotion on his rivals face. They sized each other up for several slow seconds and Squall decided to break the tense silence.

"I guess you weren't prepared to see me Seifer." He sad evenly.

"Actually I wondered when you might turn up." Seifer replied neutrally. "If I'm honest, I thought it would be a little sooner, but you're here now. That's the main thing."

"You don't seem particularly surprised to see me." Squall noted. "That's surprising seeing as you were there when I died on Battleship Island. Correction, you killed me on Battleship Island."

"I killed a soulless version of you, and did the world a favour in the process." Seifer corrected. "I know you were resurrected, and in the interest of full disclosure you've got Edea, Zell, Irvine and Selphie to thank for that. They thought the resurrection spell they performed didn't work until Dante Skyle and Alice Obsidian happened by with the news of your return."

"Dante fucking Skyle!" Squall seethed as he wrung an imaginary neck. "Why am I in no way surprised?"

"Do you seriously think that's the question we should be asking right now?" Seifer growled icily. "Not, oh for example why did you neglect to inform us of your resurrection?"

"I'm having trouble seeing how it became necessary for me to explain myself to you Seifer." Squall retorted. "After all, your decision making skills have really sparkled, historically speaking."

"Yeah and it's something I'm still paying for." Seifer said. "I'm trying to make amends but I don't see you attempting the same. I read people well and you don't seem willing to recognise that you got it wrong."

"Why should I?" Squall barked. "I have my reasons for keeping my return from you and I still don't see why I have to answer to you. I'm the Commander, and you're a cadet, which is a whole new set of problems."

"Quistis is the Commander." Seifer amended. "You're nobody. I don't really see this being settled through reasoned discussion."

"I guess you're right." Squall said moving forwards and raising his gun blade. Seifer simply leant on his gun blade and let out a wolf whistle. Before Squall knew what was happening he was tackled and his gun blade was wrenched from his hand. He couldn't see much as at least two strong individuals had him pinned on the ground. He did see two more pairs of boots join Seifer's.

"Tell me Squall," Seifer said. "When you were taking out the guards at the front gate did it occur to you that maybe we had concealed camera's running on a completely different security network pointed at you?"

Squall was finally able to identify everyone present. Dante and Zell had pinned him to the ground while Quistis, Irvine and Seifer were standing over him. To Squall's ever-lasting rage, Seifer had picked up and was idly twirling his gun blade.

"It's good to see you again Squall." Quistis said. "Believe me, I wish it didn't have to happen like this. Irvine?"

Irvine stepped forward and pulled out a large black handgun from his jacket. He cocked it and sighting briefly down the barrel pulled the trigger. With a pulse of compressed air a tranquilizer dart embedded itself in the side of Squall's neck.

"Zell, Dante," Quistis ordered as Squall's struggles relaxed. "Take him down to the detention block and lock him up. Also, we keep this between ourselves for now. No one else knows. Especially not Rinoa."

"You do know that when she does find out she's going to throw an almighty shit pit right?" Zell asked.

* * *

Later that night Seifer was sitting in an old, battered, armchair he'd installed in his room. He was drinking whisky from the bottle and mulling over the maddening events in the Training Centre. Seifer had always been excellent at concealing his emotions but that didn't change the fact that seeing Squall again had shaken him to his core and then some. Seifer suspected that some part of his psyche had convinced itself that Alice and Dante were mistaken. It was fairly logical to assume that Squall would come after him seeing as it was Seifer who killed him in the first place. There was a knock on the door but Seifer didn't bother answering, electing to take another mouthful of whisky. The chair faced away from the door but Seifer could tell who his visitor was by the scent of her perfume as she entered.

"Hey Seifer," Quistis said as she sat on the edge of the bed facing him. "How are you doing?"

"Tickety-shagging-boo." Seifer replied with more sarcasm than Dante on a really good day. "Dead rivals turning up out of the blue is all in a day's work for me."

"Sorry," Quistis grimaced. "Stupid question. What I really wanted to know is how you're handling it, though judging by the whisky I don't really need to ask. I would ordinarily tell you that drinking away your problems won't work but that would make me sound like a hypocrite after I put up with Dante's drinking for so long."

"There's something you should know about Dante." Seifer said. "Turning you was maybe not the best thing he could've done but he didn't come to the decision lightly. He didn't say anything, at least not to me but I could tell. He was torn up inside. He turned you and that in itself is enough to warrant you hating him for the rest of his eternal life but he did it with the best of intentions."

"I know that." Quistis nodded before standing up and jerking the bottle from Seifer's hands. She took a mouthful before handing it back. "He saved me from Omega so as far as I'm concerned we're square."

"Have you decided how to tell Rinoa about Squall?" Seifer asked.

"No and I can tell you one thing." Quistis said. "I'm really not looking forwards to that. I need to sound her out to guess how she'd react."

"My two pennies worth?" Seifer took a drink and handed the bottle back. "Tell her soon. Whatever you're going to do it won't end well. Rinoa is a highly emotional person and a Sorceress. She'll appreciate you telling her as soon as possible. That said, when you do tell her I'd recommend ducking and covering."

"Thanks for the vote on confidence." Quistis muttered. "Anyway the other reason I came to see you is because I have some good news. The Garden Authorities have decided on a field exam and I've decided you're good enough to take it."

"Seriously?" Seifer arched one eyebrow and smiled a little, which was his equivalent of a twenty one gun salute. "So what do I have to do?"

"Not asking questions would be a good start." Quistis said. "You know how it works Seifer. We don't tell you anything until you commit fully to the field exam."

"You know I'm up for it regardless." Seifer replied reasonably. "Does that not count for anything?"

"No preferential treatment." Quistis said. "If I told you anything and it got back to the powers that be you and I would both be in a world of trouble and to be honest you've ruffled enough very powerful feathers for a lifetime."

"Why do you do that?" Seifer demanded.

"What?" Quistis asked.

"You barely acknowledged the fact that if you told me something you'd end up in as much shit as I would." Seifer set the whisky aside and leant forwards, fixing Quistis with an uncomfortably intense stare. "You've been behind me the whole way, spotting me, keeping me motivated and saving my ass against Ifrit. Here's my question. Why? What makes me so much better than any other cadet? Why am I getting special treatment?"

"Do you really need to ask me that Seifer?" Quistis bit off. "You're my biggest failure as an instructor. I don't like failure and I'll do everything in my power to rectify it."

"I'm your biggest failure as an instructor?" Seifer echoed sceptically before snorting with derision. "You really expect me to believe that?"

"Believe it, don't believe it," Quistis waved a hand dismissively. "It makes no difference to me what you believe."

"Does it though?" Seifer stood up and towered over Quistis who stood up as well but only to take a step backwards. Quistis was a vampire who could knock seven bells out of Seifer if the mood took her but she'd momentarily forgotten that. "Come on Quistis, we both know that you care what I think, what happens to me. You wouldn't have put in so much work if you didn't care. Why? I want to know."

"Just leave it Seifer." Quistis said, holding her ground this time. "It's not important in the grand scheme of things."

"Maybe not to you." Seifer growled as he blocked Quistis' path to the door. "Why are you helping me? I think I've got a pretty good idea but I'd like to hear it from the horse's mouth."

"What are you talking about?" Quistis demanded angrily.

"This." Seifer growled before grabbing Quistis by the waist. Then he leant forwards and kissed her on the lips. Quistis' froze with shock before she started to return the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. Then something broke insider her and she shoved Seifer in the chest propelling herself away from him. She stared at him with her hand over her mouth, half horrified half exhilarated at the turn her life had taken. Seifer simply held her gaze.

Quistis lowered her hand and then took a few tentative steps towards Seifer before they both crashed their lips together again. Quistis ripped Seifer's shirt open as he started to kiss her neck.

"Seifer," She gasped as his hands fumbled with the buttons on her uniform. "I want you."

"Quistis," Seifer breathed as he pushed her jacket off. "I love you. God I love you so much."

* * *

Seifer sat bolt upright in bed with a cry of shock. The redheaded female cadet next to him rolled over in her sleep, oblivious to Seifer's horror. He willed himself to calm down but he was painfully aware that all hope was lost.

"Oh God no!" He breathed. "Please no."

* * *

**Sorry that this took a little longer than usual. As ever you reserve the right to pelt me with fruits and various meats. Thanks go out to MissPhoenix18 and geelouxo for their continuous support. I cannot thank them enough. I hope others will review, but I doubt it.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: After Life**

Quistis looked up as someone kicked the door to her office open with enough force to send it slamming into the wall and bounced boisterously into the room. The identity of her visitor nearly had her reaching for a bottle of pills or throwing herself out the window.

"What do you want Dante?" She asked before resolutely returning to the stack of reports from SeeD cells all over the planet. "I'm too busy for idle chit chat."

"To business then." Dante chirped as he took a seat facing Quistis, propped his boots up on the desk and lit a cigarette. "Tell me dear Quistis. Have you decided how to tell Rinoa about our late night visitor?"

"No I haven't and I'm failing to see how this is your problem." Quistis retorted. "I am a Garden employee, as is Rinoa. You are not. You're an outside contractor and I use the term quite loosely."

"It hurts me deep inside when you say stuff like that." Dante quipped, smiling in a way that was almost guaranteed to send Quistis off the deep end. "Let's take a look at my association with Balamb Garden. Who killed Major Marcus Foxton, and saved Ellone, Rinoa and Mika in the process?"

"Who's Mika?" Quistis asked interestedly.

"Irrelevant." Dante said, though he inwardly cursed himself for mentioning Mika which could lead to some very awkward questions. "The point is, I killed Foxton and saved his hostages. Let's try another shall we? Whose idea was it to use EMP grenades against Swift's cyborg army? Who broke Seifer out of Screamer Mountain? How about this one? Who successfully baited and killed Adrian Obsidian?"

"Okay point made." Quistis sighed, more to shut Dante up than anything else. "I haven't figured out to tell Rinoa that we have Squall in custody but I'll handle it."

"Rinoa's a Sorceress, not to mention a highly emotional person." Dante pointed out brightly. "You hold out on her much longer and you may encounter highly distressing sensations."

"What are you talking about?" Quistis demanded exasperatedly as she glared at Dante whom was clearly loving the profound effect he was creating.

"I've known a few Sorceress's over the years." Dante explained calmly. "I've seen what they can do and I do not want to be in the firing line when Rinoa finds out you've been keeping Squall's return from her. I suspect she'll probably start by frying your eyeballs in their sockets, or possibly she'll make your vital organs explode in your unfeasibly attractive chest."

"So what do you suggest?" Much as Quistis hated to admit it, and she really did, she though Dante had a point.

"Let me talk to Rinoa." Dante suggested. "I have plenty of reasons to think Rinoa trusts me. I'm also better equipped than most people to handle her if things go out of control, mainly because I'd have absolutely no qualms about knocking her out the minute she shows any Linda Blair-esque symptoms."

"You're a gent alright." Quistis bit off sarcastically. "What makes you think Rinoa trusts you?"

"Believe that I have my reasons, even if I don't share them with you." Dante growled. "If I'm wrong, Rinoa will burn me to a crisp but she'll know that Squall is back. Look at it this way. I'm dead, and you're saved the trouble of telling Rinoa yourself. Two birds, one stone."

"You're a seriously annoying individual but I don't want you dead." Quistis replied. "I'm sorry Dante but I just don't see it. I know you and Rinoa slept together but from what I gathered it was little more than a tryst, especially as you booked it for pastures new immediately afterwards."

"Not immediately!" Dante exclaimed defensively. "There was easily forty-five minutes of cuddling. I wouldn't call that a tryst."

"Fine, a one night stand then." Quistis shot back. "What happened between you and Rinoa doesn't say trust to me."

"Funnily enough my belief that Rinoa trusts me has nothing to do with the fact we got a little bouncy." Dante said patiently. "I have plenty of reasons but I don't really want to disclose them at this moment in time. I have experience with a Sorceress or ten, so I know how their minds work."

"And how many of them did you end up sleeping with?" Quistis enquired acidly.

"That's not the point, though now I think on it there was one in particular I wouldn't shag for all the whisky in Winhill." Dante grimaced. "About twenty five years ago I was approached by a Sorceress who wanted to hire me as her personal killing machine. You met her I believe. Twelve feet tall, possible transvestite, megalomaniac. Name of Adel?"

"Sorceress Adel is long dead." Quistis told him. "I was there when she was killed."

"I know that." Dante said. "I essentially told her to shove her offer of employment up her ass. She didn't like that and put a big old price on my head. The only positive of being sent to Quor-Toth was the lack of bounty hunters. Now that Adel is dead, I'm guessing the bounty is null and void. Thanks for offing her. Would've done it myself but I was busy vampire killing."

"You're welcome." Quistis muttered. "Look Dante, I'll take you offer of help under advisement. That said if I were you I wouldn't hold your breath."

"Wouldn't make much difference." Dante chuckled. "You should know that. We are both vampires, remember. I suppose that's a plus because when Rinoa throws a tantrum your vampire physiology will allow you to watch her kill all your human friends first. Then she'll kill you."

"We're Rinoa's best friends." Quistis said. "We're the only family she has left. She'd never hurt us."

"Oh is that right?" Dante laughed, but it was a harsh, humourless laugh. "The way I heard it Rinoa and Squall had this whole epic love thing going on. For someone as passionate and emotional as Rinoa that could easily tap into some pretty serious dark power. Power like that, fuelled by the love Rinoa has for Squall? I'm telling you Quistis that will not be a good day out by anyone's standards." Suddenly, Dante's brain was working overtime. In a sudden, blinding flash there it was, right in front of him.

"Dante?" Quistis asked uneasily, noticing the subtle change on his face. "Are you okay?"

"Whoa, whoa." Dante said breathlessly. "I'm having a thought. Ooh, yeah that's a thought. Now I'm having a plan."

"What are you talking about?" Quistis asked.

"If Rinoa was able to tap into the deepest, darkest, reserves of power inside her and then somehow use her love for Squall to power it I don't think there's a great deal that could stand up to her." Dante explained. "Being on the receiving end of that power, no one could ignore that. Not me, not Sorceress Ultimecia. Not even Alexander Obsidian."

"No don't go there!" Quistis exclaimed. She knew that killing Alexander was essentially Dante's main reason to exist but if he managed to get Rinoa to help him there was no telling where it might lead. "We can't take risks like that."

"Alexander ruined my life!" Dante hissed. "He nearly killed the lot of us on Battleship Island by nearly unleashing an army of Old Ones. Then he took Squall's soul and turned him into a remorseless mockery of your friend. Someone needs to kill Alexander for the sake of the world in general. Think of what Alexander has done, and then go ahead and try and stop me getting Rinoa's help with it."

"Do you think she can do it?" Quistis asked. "Tell me straight Dante. Can Rinoa kill him?"

"Even if she can't finish him off I'm sure she can deliver him to the brink of death." Dante nodded. "She does that and I'll finish the job myself."

"Can I help?" A voice said from the doorway. Quistis' jaw dropped as she goggled at the apparition before her. Dante got to his feet and turned around, praying that the owner of the voice wasn't who he thought it was.

Standing in the doorway, idly twirling his gun blade and observing them unsmilingly was Swift Obsidian.

"What makes you think we want your help?" Dante snarled belligerently, his fingers twitching convulsively next to the handgrip of a Desert Eagle handgun holstered at his waist.

"Dante please." Quistis said as she stood up, ever the mediator. "Why should we trust you Swift? How do we know that you're not just trying to size up threats to Alexander?"

"Oh believe me, up until a few days ago I was considering doing just that." Swift switched his gaze to Dante. "Alexander has your wife Dante. By now he's probably torturing her."

"Looks like he has his uses after all." Dante mused.

"You still haven't answered my question Swift." Quistis pressed. "Tell me. Why should we trust you?"

"I was there when Alexander started interrogating Nina and during that I made a rather disturbing discovery regarding you Dante." Swift took a step forwards. "He did something else to you didn't he Dante? Before he sent you to Quor-Toth."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Dante said, though his voice was shaking audibly, giving him away.

"Yes you do." Swift returned evenly. "I know what he did to you and I know that it's worse even than sending you to Quor-Toth. You can escape Quor-Toth but you can't escape this. Personally speaking, I can forgive a lot Alexander has done. The rape, pillage and murder is all water off a ducks back. I've been guilty of those once or twice myself. The resurrection of the Old One's was a bit worse but I can still forgive him for it. Sending you to Quor-Toth was an overreaction but everyone overreacts sometimes. This however? No, this is utterly, irrevocably, unforgivable. If you want my help, you have it."

"Don't take this the wrong way Swift," Dante spat, practically quivering with anger. "But I don't know that the fuck you're talking about!"

"Yes you do." Swift replied. "I can understand your secrecy around Quistis which is why I haven't spelt it out, it's your private business…"

"Shut up." Dante growled in a low voice.

"Just tell me if I'm right." Swift continued stubbornly. "You don't even have to speak. Just nod or shake your head."

"I said; shut…" Dante yanked out his pistol and raising it fired, shooting Swift twice in the face at point blank range. The ancient vampire was thrown off his feat and he crashed to the ground. …UP!" Dante screamed the last word at the top of his lungs.

"Dante what's he talking about?" Quistis asked as Swift pulled himself into a sitting position and shook his head until his glazed eyes refocused. He pulled a silk handkerchief from his top pocket and wiped his face clean of blood. He crawled over to the doorframe and used it to pull himself to his feet. "What did you leave out?"

"Leave it Quistis." Dante said warningly.

"Do as he says." Swift said as he steadied himself. "I know what Alexander did to you Dante, and I know that you know, even if you haven't accepted it yet. I can't say I blame you. I always knew Alexander was evil, but this…it's beyond the pale. My brother is gone, and the thing that killed him is walking around wearing his face. I thought maybe I could change him, but I guess I was wrong."

"You're too bloody right you were!" Dante roared, firing at Swift again. Swift sidestepped the shot and raised a hand in a gesture of supplication but Dante was past the point of listening to reason, tearing at his hair and looking quite deranged. "The guy's a psychopath, how much more evidence do you need? Not only is he a psychopath he's also an ancient vampire so his atrocities tend to be correspondingly larger!"

The next sound was a loud thump as Quistis seized a paperweight off her desk and clocked Dante over the head with it, putting all her vampire strength behind the blow. Dante keeled over like an axed tree.

"Thanks for that." Swift nodded. "All things considered, I cannot blame him for being angry. That aside, I think you should lock him up somewhere secure. It'll save tedious interruptions."

"I don't trust you Swift." Quistis growled. "So you'd better tell me everything to convince me otherwise. I don't want to know what this other thing Alexander did to Dante is. It's his business and he'll tell us when he's ready."

"Go with that." Swift chuckled. "It worked so well the last time didn't it?"

"The way things are going I trust him a lot more than I trust you." Quistis said before taking a seat and motioning Swift to take one as well. "The floor is yours. Tell me, why should I trust you?"

"I understand I haven't given you much reason to." Swift nodded. "Before I answer that question, and believe me I will answer it, I think we should take Dante's advice. There are a couple of star crossed lovers who need to be reunited."

"I was hoping you wouldn't say that." Quistis muttered.

* * *

Later that evening Dante was sitting in a corner of the reconstructed canteen drinking his way through a large bottle of whisky washed down with mouthfuls of blood from his hip flask. He wore a murderous look on his face that made everyone give him a wide berth. Or nearly everyone.

"You look pissed." A familiar voice said as Selphie sat down facing him. "You want to talk about it?"

"I really don't." Dante grunted, glaring hatefully at the bottle in his hand before he took another mouthful. "It's not world in peril stuff. It's just my past catching up with me and proceeding to kick my teeth in."

"I see." Selphie said though it was abundantly clear that she didn't. "Literally or figuratively?"

"Who cares?" Dante replied before he raised the bottle to his lips again but before he could take a drink Selphie reached forwards and plucked it from his grip. Dante expected her to throw the bottle away and start preaching about the evils of alcohol but Selphie simply took a mouthful and handed the bottle back. As she swallowed the fiery liquid burnt her throat and she started coughing and spluttering. Dante smiled, amused by her discomfort. "First mistake, taking a mouthful of whisky straight away and not letting yourself get used to it."

"Well pardon me for not being a borderline alcoholic." Selphie hurled back playfully. "Are you sure I can't tempt you to talk about whatever's got you in this mood?"

"Knowing you, you probably can," Dante said as he took the bottle back and drank. "But please don't." He slid the bottle back to Selphie. "Take a sip this time."

"So any progress on the Seifer and Quistis matchmaking front?" Selphie asked, sliding the bottle back to him.

"I haven't given it much thought to be honest." Dante said evenly. "I've had a lot on my mind and compared to everything that's happening, workplace romances are small potatoes."

"I was thinking we should lock them up in the MD level and not let them out until they admit their feelings for each other." Selphie said with a wicked grin.

"Please tell me you're joking about that?"

"Maybe." Selphie chuckled with an unsettling glint in her eyes. "On the other hand we could stage an intervention and force them together."

"It's no good." Dante shook his head vehemently. "Seifer's way too volatile for that sort of approach to work and Quistis is way too stubborn. If they're going to get their shit together and have lots of sex and babies then we have to let them do it on their own terms."

"I don't think they'll have babies." Selphie pointed out. "Vampires can't procreate remember?"

"Forgetting something as basic as that about my own species is probably a sign that I shouldn't drink anymore." Dante said before shrugging and draining the bottle. He hurled the bottle into a bin roughly forty yards away. "Yeah, vampires can't procreate but that doesn't stop us trying."

"Is it not lonely being a vampire?" Selphie asked. "You've got eternal youth while everyone you care about just withers and dies."

"That's why I prefer not to get attached to people." Dante explained. "Some people can't get over the fact that while they'll grow old and die I remain as an eternal sex god. The world isn't a nice place. If you dare to hope something might work out then you'll just get knocked down. Humans have this pathological need to set themselves up for disappointment."

"You sound like Squall before Rinoa came along." Selphie observed. "Have you ever tried to look on the bright side of life?"

"Not much point seeing as I'm technically dead." Dante continued. "Trust me Selphie, I've seen the worst the world can throw at you and no amount of good things about it will change my mind."

"What about Quistis and Rinoa?" Selphie asked shrewdly. "If you don't believe in getting attached to people how do you explain your relationship with them?"

"Rinoa and I never had a relationship." Dante sighed in frustration. "We had no strings attached sex once, for two very different reasons. Quistis, she kind of snuck up on me. I cared about her. Hell, I still do but I think in the long run we're both better off apart. I can't change the fact that I turned her and that's going to follow me around for the rest of my life but after Quor-Toth it's not the hardest thing I've got to deal with."

"Is it really terrible there?" Selphie asked. She, like most people had only got the cliff notes to Dante's back story and was a bit foggy on the details.

"You've no idea." Dante said monotonously. "It's like nothing any human can imagine. I've never been anywhere like it. I had to fight for my life every minute I was awake, and when I found shelter and got sleep I kept dreaming about terrible things. The day Nina died. The day Swift turned me. I thought I was going mad. I stopped eating for about twenty five years but being a vampire, it didn't do me any good. You can't remember who you are after a while, and you can't see the point in living. I used to pray I'd die in my sleep. Then when I got out, it was like being born again. Everything came flooding back."

"You were there for three centuries or so." Selphie said before reaching over the table and grasping Dante's hand. "You're still a pretty together guy. I've never been to Quor-Toth and I can't imagine what you went through but I my opinion it takes someone of extraordinary strength of character to go through that and retain any semblance of self. How about this? Every time you get depressed with the state of the world think about what it was like to escape from Quor-Toth? Sound like a plan?"

"I could give it a go." Dante shrugged before casting a look at Selphie. "What about you? How do you get by?"

"I practice smiling when I'm feeling sad." Selphie replied cheerfully. "You'd be surprised at how effective it is. That said, I don't see a guy like you attempting it."

"What a brain?" Dante deadpanned. "Where do you keep it all?"

"Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit." Selphie retorted. "That said, it's progress. Listen, I need to get some sleep but if you ever need to talk to me then just give me a call. Give me your phone." Selphie took the communicator and casually worked the controls with her thumb. "I'm putting my number in. Call me up, day or night."

"Thanks." Dante said uncertainly as Selphie handed the phone back to him. "I really hope you're not going to report back to Quistis. She found out that Alexander did something else to me and I get the impression she'd like to know what it is."

"Something else?" Selphie echoed. "In the interest of honesty, _I'd_ quite like to know what it is but I'm not going to push. Everything you tell me is in the strictest confidence. Anyway I really need to go. I'll see you around. Maybe you can teach me how to drink."

Selphie got up and headed out of the canteen. Dante sighed and took a drink from his flask. He felt eyes on him and looked up to see Irvine standing over him, glaring.

"What were you talking to Selphie about?" Irvine demanded, not even bothering to hide the contempt in his voice and on his face.

"Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about." Dante replied, smiling arrogantly and taking another mouthful of blood. "Now please vanish."

"How can I put this politely?" Like lightning Irvine had a pistol pointed directly at Dante's head. "I don't like you. At the end of the day you're just a vampire. You may have fooled everyone else into believing you're a real person but I see right through it."

"Okay so tell me this." Dante retorted calmly. "What's your point?"

"My point is that you'll stay away from Selphie if you know what's good for you." Irvine said, as he ominously cocked the pistol. "She doesn't need a monster like you in her life." Irvine glowered even more as Dante chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Look at you Irvine." Dante answered. "You're all afraid I'm hot for your honey, oh sorry, ex-honey. You may be right. Selphie doesn't need a monster like me but the way I see it she doesn't need a gun toting, wilfully androgynous cowboy wannabe either. I've seen some pretty pathetic humans in my time but you are something else."

"Keep talking." Irvine growled between clenched teeth. "I'll blast your head off is you test me."

"Okay now I'm bored." Dante stood up and locked eyes with Irvine. "This is your last chance. If you walk away, we'll pretend this didn't happen. You see Irvine I'm getting seriously sick of your attitude problem. You even so much as look at me funny again, I will kill you. I don't care how fucked up your brain is, you're a human which means you're a vampires prey of choice. I _will _kill you."

"Not if I kill you first." Irvine said before punching Dante in the face with the gun. As Dante staggered back Irvine pulled out a stake and pinning Dante to the nearest wall drove it straight into his heart.

"OW!" Dante exclaimed in an agonised growl. "Bloody hell! Oh God! Hey wait a minute…" His gaze slid to the stake sticking out of his chest.

"Plastic wood grain." Irvine explained icily as he twisted the stake out. He watched as Dante collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest. "Looks real doesn't it? Stay away from Selphie. Next time, I'll do it for real." That was when someone else decided to add their loose change.

"No you won't." Swift Obsidian said as she stepped into Irvine's eye line and offered Dante a hand up. "I can empathise with your dislike of Dante, believe me but for the time being I need him alive. You kill him and you'll have me to answer to." Swift's arm snaked out and grabbing Irvine by the throat bore him aloft. "Believe me Irvine, you don't want that." He tossed Irvine to the floor. The sharpshooter abandoned all pretence and scrambled to his feet before sprinting out of the canteen.

"Thanks for the intervention," Dante said grudgingly to Swift. "But I think I had it under control."

"Sure you did." Swift replied sarcastically. "I truly do need you alive so maybe you should refrain from baiting him. He's still a SeeD and judging by the way he blindsided you I really did save your life."

"What do you want, a medal?" Dante growled.

"All I want is to know if I'm right." Swift said. "We're alone Dante, there are no prying ears. Am I right that Alexander did something else to you before he sent you to Quor-Toth?"

"Yes." Dante admitted. "Don't ask me what it is because I'm not going to tell you. I don't trust you, but even if I did I probably wouldn't tell you anyway."

"That's irrelevant because I've got a pretty good idea what he did, and let me start by saying it's utterly abhorrent and I can't escape my fair share of the blame." Swift said. "I just need to be sure. Is this what he did?" Swift handed a book with a page marked to Dante who opened it. Dante stared at the page for a few minutes before handing it back to Swift.

"Yes."

* * *

**I'm sorry this took so long, but I had a lot to deal with. I know it's a Dante centric chapter but it's necessary for the direction I'm going in. Thank you all for reading this, and particular thanks are going out the MissPhoenix18 and geelouxo for their incredibly flattering reviews. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Friends Like These**

All things considered Seifer was extremely surprised he hadn't started foaming at the mouth. He'd woken up at the crack of dawn after yet another night plagued by maddeningly unhelpful and invariably erotic Quistis centric dreams. Sure, Quistis was attractive and Seifer had occasionally fantasised about laying one on her back when she was panting over Squall, but these dreams were well beyond anything like that. So Seifer decided the best way to deal with them was the only way he knew how, short of drinking himself into a coma; he opted to half kill himself in the gym by pumping iron.

Unfortunately, things were clearly not going his way. After working up a monster appetite Seifer headed to the canteen and ordered a mushroom omelette and thin strips of steak. While the canteen workers busied themselves Seifer turned towards the canteen and looked around for a table. The canteen was more or less empty at this time in the morning so it was a short search. Then Seifer saw something that made his blood run cold. At a table near the entrance sat Dante and Quistis. Their heads rose in eerie unison and turned towards Seifer. Then Dante emphatically beckoned Seifer over. Seifer took the tray containing his breakfast and after briefly contemplating flight he headed over and sat down, taking great care to avoid Quistis' eye.

"Today is the day my friend." Dante announced jubilantly. "We're telling Rinoa about Squall today and by the evening she may well be pan searing our innards for us."

"I've told you before Dante," Quistis put in wearily. "We're Rinoa's friends, her only real family. She won't be dancing a jig but she would never willingly hurt us for keeping Squall's return from her."

"I never said she'd willingly hurt us." Dante answered smoothly. "I know for a fact that there has been a Sorceress or two that haven't had a good grip on their powers. They've lost control usually when they're angry or upset. That's why I'll be ducking and covering when we tell her. Am I right or am I right Seifer?"

"Almost certainly not, but to be fair I wasn't really listening." Seifer announced dully before impaling a strip of steak on his fork, jamming it into his mouth and chewing on it with relish.

"I understand your trepidation Dante," Quistis said evenly. "But I'm going with my instincts on this one. I know Rinoa, better than you I daresay and something tells me when she finds out Squall's back she'll be overjoyed if not ecstatic."

"Where's Mika when you need him?" Dante muttered under his breath before turning to Seifer. "So Seifer, what's new in your little world?"

"Nothing much." Seifer shrugged before returning to attacking his breakfast in a manner that suggested it had committed a huge personal wrong against the former Sorceress' Knight. Before he could elaborate further a shadow fell across the table. All three looked up to see Irvine standing over them. He was dressed in travelling clothes with a sports bag slung over his shoulder and a wheeled suitcase sitting on the floor next to him.

"Irvine," Quistis said, giving Dante's wrist a surreptitious squeeze underneath the table. "What can I do for you?"

The sharpshooter didn't reply. Instead he reached into his jacket and withdrew a large envelope that he flung across the table at Quistis who caught it. Irvine promptly grabbed his case, about faced and marched out of the canteen. Quistis opened the envelope while Dante and Seifer exchanged looks.

"Moron." Dante said simply before catching the reproachful look Quistis shot at him. "Sorry. What's in the envelope?"

"A completed request form for a permanent reposting at Galbadia Garden." Quistis said sounding a little punch drunk. She threw a questioning look at Dante "I wonder what's brought this on."

"I think I can answer that." Dante announced brightly. "You see Irvine and I had a conversation a few nights ago. Don't worry it was perfectly civil right up until he staked me with hunk of plastic wood grain and threatened to blow my head off. Before he could do so, Swift pops up out of nowhere, grabs Irvine and throttles him. I don't like Swift, but at least he managed to get the cowboy out of the way. If we're going up against Alexander we don't need a fruit like Irvine messing up the works."

"If he wants to ostracise himself from his friends I say we let him." Seifer put in honestly. "Irvine isn't going to be much help the way things are going. If you ask me he needs an industrial bout on electric shock therapy before he's anything even approaching useful."

"I need to talk to Cid about this." Quistis said before leaping up and speeding off out of the canteen.

"Actually Dante, I was wondering it I could have a word." Seifer said deciding to bite the bullet and get it over with. "It's about Quistis."

"I figured." Dante nodded before deciding to explain. "You didn't take one look at her the whole time she was here, so I guessed she was on your mind one way or another. What about her?"

Seifer took a deep breath before relating the story of his dreams to Dante, though he decided it might be a good move to leave out the anatomical details. To Seifer's surprise Dante listened patiently and didn't make any of his usual crude jokes. It was a testament to the strength of their friendship that Dante didn't laugh once or make a single snarky comment.

"Okay," Dante said thoughtfully. "And how long has this been going on?"

"Ever since the night we recaptured Squall." Seifer answered, trying to keep his voice steady and hoping against hope his scarlet face would regain its usual colour soon. "I'm not sure if there's anything to that."

"I'm not going to lie to you Seifer," Dante said slowly. "I suspected the good Commander was on your mind but not like this."

"You think I'm crazy don't you?" Seifer guessed shrewdly.

"Crazy is such a strong word." Dante shook his head. "I'm your mate Seifer, so if you were having these dreams about a four hundred pound bald masseuse by the name of Bruno I'd call you crazy in a microsecond. Quistis however is not a four hundred pound bald masseuse by the name of Bruno. She is, put simply, a fox. I'm also guessing she's a lot more spectacular in the bedroom that she was when we were together. Vampire stamina combined with the considerable skill she already possessed." Dante whistled. "It's bound to be blinding."

"Dante are you getting to some kind of point?" Seifer enquired.

"My point is I can't blame your for whatever it is that you're feeling." Dante grunted. "Quistis was always sought after by her notorious groupies but now she's a vampire her sex appeal has gone through the roof. Throw in all the time she's spent trying to help you and I'd be worried if you weren't feeling a teeny-tiny little bit of lust for her."

"That's the problem." Seifer hissed, barely suppressing a scream of exasperation. Dante was frequently slow on the uptake but today he was even slower than usual.

"What's the problem?" Dante raised an eyebrow.

"It's not lust I'm feeling for Quistis." Seifer continued in a voice so constricted Seifer was surprised he could make a determinate voice. "Dante, I think I'm in love with her."

"Oh good a spontaneous poetic exclamation." Dante snorted before scrutinising Seifer's face. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." Seifer said dully as he thought back to the various Quistis centric dreams which had been playing merry hell with his already shaky mental state. "It's fucked up isn't it?"

"Oh no it's not." Dante grinned as he lit a cigarette. "It's all making perfect sense and I'm not going to miss a moment of it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seifer demanded belligerently. "Dante, what does that mean?"

"Worry not Seifer. Just leave it to Uncle Dante." Dante grinned. "For now however, you'll have to excuse me as I have to head off the blow apart the world of an emotional Sorceress." He cupped his hands and blew into them. "Sweaty palms. Wish me luck." He swaggered out of the canteen.

* * *

Ten minutes later Dante and Quistis were both sitting in the Commanders room staring at the microphone for the intercom and psyching themselves up to make the announcement that they were both painfully aware could set off a chain of events that could blow up in their faces. Swift was also in the room and he was evidently growing impatient.

"Are you two going to dredge up the minerals to call Rinoa up here or not?" He demanded.

"Eventually," Dante said neutrally. "Speaking of which, when we call her I suggest you make yourself scarce. If Rinoa sees you she'll have even more questions. She might even incinerate you on the spot and while I would enjoy watching that, we do need you alive for now."

"Well get on with it." Swift barked gesturing at the microphone. "Call her or I might just head downstairs, knock her out and drag her up here myself. Don't think for one minute I can't."

"You heard the man Quistis." Dante said as Swift walked out of the office. "Call her up here."

"I don't think I can." Quistis said before resolutely pushing the microphone towards Dante. "You do it."

"No can do." Dante shook his head vehemently. "You know for someone with a genius IQ you can be astonishingly dense at times. Think, if Rinoa heard me calling her up here she'd immediately be on the alert. The best way to keep her calm is to act like everything's normal, so you have to do the announcement."

"When did you become logical?" Quistis gave Dante a quick smile in spite of herself. "This is very creepy."

"That makes me feel all warm inside." Dante deadpanned before pushing the microphone back over the desk towards her. "Come on, let's get this over with. You never know, maybe Rinoa will take it well."

"You don't think she will though." Quistis pointed out.

"No I don't." Dante said evenly. "But I've been wrong. Anyway, since when did you care about what I think?"

"You're impulsive Dante and you've made some bad choices," Quistis said after a few moments silence. "But I've learnt to set some store by your instincts and opinions. What's more, you've risked your life multiple times for the good of people here. I'm not going to have sex with you again but you are a good man and I'd much rather have you in my life as a friend than not have you in my life at all."

"Careful Quistis," Dante smirked. "When you see what I'm going to do to Alexander you may be forced to eat your words."

"Until then I think I'll afford you affection and esteem." Quistis said before touching a button and leaning over the microphone. "Could SeeD Heartilly report to the Commanders office please?"

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and a uniformed Rinoa walked in. She walked forwards, stood to attention and threw a salute.

"Stand easy." Quistis said and Rinoa relaxed. "Take a seat Rinoa, Dante and I would like to talk to you about something. Before we begin, I want your word that there will be no excitable reaction."

"This is mighty ominous." Rinoa said looking around noting the serious looks on their faces. "What's with the grim?"

"Your word Rinoa." Dante said firmly. "I want you to promise you won't freak out at us."

"Fine I promise." Rinoa sighed before massaging the bridge of her nose. "What's going on?" Her eyes narrowed as she realised that Dante and Quistis were both looking increasingly uneasy and she began to get a real sense she wasn't going to like whatever they'd called her up here for. It was Dante who spoke first.

"Okay Rinoa, this is going to be difficult for you but please try to stay calm." He said attempting (and failing) to sound reassuring. "Something happened a few nights ago that we feel you should know about."

"Is it Squall?" Rinoa interjected, though she could feel some kind of nameless dread starting to bear down on her. "Have you found Squall?"

There was a long silence, during which Rinoa looked between Dante and Quistis accusingly. Dante was smoothly inscrutable as always whereas Quistis' looked like she was suffering from an extremely painful internal struggle. The silence stretched until…

"Yes, we've found Squall." Dante said before lapsing into silence. This did nothing to alleviate Rinoa's fears.

"Is he dead?" The raven haired Sorceress asked, her voice shaking.

"No, he's fine." Quistis said. "Well as fine as someone who was resurrected and who has one main purpose in life can be. Rinoa I know this is hard for you but please…"

"Where is he?" Rinoa exclaimed, her voice raising rapidly. "Where is Squall? I need to talk to him!"

"I can understand that Rinoa but it's not the first thing I'd recommend." Dante held up a hand. "As for where he is, Zell and I locked him up in the detention block. We didn't want to risk him doing a runner." With hindsight this probably wasn't the best thing Dante could've said.

"What?" Rinoa shrieked. "You've known where he was for days and you didn't think you should tell me? Are you seriously fucking kidding me? I thought people around her were supposed to be smart!"

"Rinoa please…" Quistis began but she was cut off as Rinoa's anger and pain came out. The first indicator was every window in the Commanders office disintegrating simultaneously. Rinoa started to hover a few inches off the floor but the huge, white feathered wings were nowhere to be seen. Rinoa's pupils had also expanded to the extent that her eyes were entirely black.

"Rinoa!" Dante yelled dashing forwards. With a flick of her wrist Rinoa sent him flying backwards. He smashed into the wall, his momentum punching an enormous hole in it. Quistis uncoiled her rante from her waist but before she could use it the whole weapon started to glow red hot. Quistis cried out and dropped it. Suddenly both vampires started feeling searing pain. Sunlight was streaming through the windows and it was burning both of them. Somehow Rinoa had managed to stop their daylight rings from working. Before Rinoa could go any further the door opened behind her and a blur shot into the room. Swift forced an ornate Odine bangle onto Rinoa's wrist before punching her solidly in the temple. She dropped and Dante and Quistis stood up.

"So much for your theory about her not hurting us." Dante said as he exposed his left hand to the sunlight, to no ill effects. "She just tried to roast us alive."

"Maybe it would be better if we brought her to see Squall." Quistis sighed as she reattached her rante to her belt. "If nothing else there's no direct sunlight in the detention centre."

"Well whatever you do, make it snappy." Swift cautioned them. "I may not be there next time and she won't be down for too long."

"Right, Dante grab her legs." Quistis ordered as she grabbed the rapidly stirring Sorceress under the arms. "I think we ought to incite a tearful reunion."

"Just don't be disappointed if it doesn't work." Dante grunted as he and Quistis bore Rinoa towards the elevator. "When I talked to Squall in Esthar he made it clear the last thing on his mind was a tearful reunion."

When they reached the detention centre Squall looked up as the door to his cell was unlocked to reveal Dante regarding him with a mix of motions on his face. Mainly curiosity and dislike although there were a few hints of triumph in there as well.

"Are you going to let me out of here anytime soon?" Squall demanded. "I had enough being locked up when Alexander was removing my soul."

"Now let's not be too hasty." Dante chirped, crouching in front of the door. "You see, we're currently gearing up to take on Alexander and make him pay for everything he's done. You and I both have personal vendettas against the man. I suppose a case could be made for Seifer, and I know Swift has performed yet another turnaround of what he thinks of his esteemed brother. Then there's someone else. Black hair, brown eyes, about five feet three inches tall? I wonder who fits that profile." Dante clicked his fingers and Rinoa walked into Squall's line of sight. The vengeful, enraged Sorceress from the office was gone. Now Rinoa had tears running down her cheeks and a betrayed, defeated look in her eyes.

"Squall?" She said despondently as if she couldn't believe her eyes. "You're really here? What are you doing here?"

"It wasn't my choice Rinoa, you have to believe me on that." Squall said before shooting a glare at Dante. "I didn't want to put you through this but apparently Dante thinks he knows you better than I do."

"Let's not rule it out." Dante interjected. "Go on Squall. Tell Rinoa why you didn't shout your return from the rooftops. Why didn't you move heaven and earth to get back to her? Why did you hide from everyone?"

"We've been over this." Squall growled. "I am going to kill Alexander but I'd be an idiot to think it would be that easy. Alexander goes after people you care and I thought that if I cut myself off, acted like I didn't care there was a chance however remote that he might leave you alone."

"Unlock the door." Dante ordered. As soon as the door was unlocked Dante exploded into the cell and grabbed Squall. He forced Squall to his knees, locked one arm around his throat and pressed his other hand against the back of his neck.

"Dante, what are you doing?" Quistis asked warily.

"Tell me Squall, on a scale of one to ten how self-obsessed are you?" Dante hissed in Squall's ears. "There are other people around here who hate Alexander as much as you do, and some of them have a much better chance at killing him. One of them is Rinoa. I would really like to kill Alexander, but I'd prefer to do it with you. Tell Rinoa the truth about why you hid or I swear to God I'll snap your neck right here in front of her."

"I was scared." Squall spluttered. "I knew I would see you again Rinoa and I was terrified about it. I knew you would've moved on and that you might not want me back. Dante told me about Mika, and I have to say while I'm glad he made you happy I could barely stand the idea of you with him."

"Is someone going to tell me who Mika is?" Quistis interjected.

"After what I did to you and everyone else I should be in hell suffering an eternity of torture." Squall continued. "Nothing can ever compensate what I did to you Rinoa, let alone the fact that I was an accessory to the apocalypse. Alexander is responsible for everything I did and I will happily go to hell knowing that he's there as well. Alexander needs to die and I am willing to do whatever it takes to kill him. There is one exception. I am not willing to sacrifice you to do it. Not you. Not Zell, Selphie, Quistis or Irvine. Not Matron. Not Cid. Not even Seifer. Alexander's taken enough from me for a lifetime and I'm not letting him take anymore. I'm not asking you to forgive me Rinoa. I just need you to understand why I hid."

"That's more like it." Dante said, releasing Squall. "That's the truth I wanted to hear. That's the truth Rinoa needed to hear. Rinoa, do you have anything to ask?"

Rinoa didn't reply. Instead she spun around and sprinted out of the detention centre in floods of tears. Dante sighed in annoyance and sprinted after her. He caught up with her in the entrance hall. As he spun Rinoa around she slapped him across the face with all the force she could muster. With Guardian Forces and her Sorceress physiology behind the blow it was nothing to be sniffed at. Dante however ignored the pain and looked Rinoa in the eyes waiting for her to make the first move. It was a very short wait.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Rinoa snarled, wiping away her tears venomously. "I thought you were my friend Dante but instead you stab me in the back. Are you incapable of doing anything good?"

"Okay first off I wasn't the only one in on this." Dante said evenly. "In the interest of full disclosure Quistis, Seifer, Zell and Irvine helped me apprehend and detain Squall. Secondly, we had our reasons for not telling you."

"Oh you did, did you?" Rinoa sneered. "Please enlighten me as to what these reasons are? Come on Dante, don't be shy. Spit it out. Tell me. TELL ME!"

"You're a highly emotional person Rinoa and that's a bad combination with your Sorceress powers." Dante grunted. "We guessed you might react badly and given what's happened over the last half hour or so can you blame us? We wanted to tell you, but we decided to attempt damage limitation."

"Oh well that makes it alright then." Rinoa laughed bitterly. "Thank God Dante Skyle's on the case."

"You have every right to feel that way about me Rinoa but we kept it from you with the best intentions." Dante raised a finger to point at her. "Remember that."

Rinoa stormed forwards and threw herself at Dante. Dante took two punches to the kidneys and a third to the face before Rinoa's body wilted and all the fight went out of her. She fell forwards into Dante's arms, still raining half-hearted punches on Dante's chest while she buried her face in his shoulder and cried her heart out. Despite the fact Dante was horror struck at this turn of events he put his arms round Rinoa, stroked her hair and shushed her. Dante glared daggers at passing SeeD's and cadets who both shot concerned looks at Rinoa. The raven haired Sorceress wasn't showing any signs of surfacing so Dante simply lifted her up and carried her towards her dorm room. He set her down on the bed and decided to put the kettle on.

"I'm sorry Dante." Rinoa said suddenly. "I shouldn't blame you for this. I'm just really messed up."

"You can blame me if you want." Dante shrugged. "I've lived a good portion of my life as an outcast, hated by vampires because they want to kill me before I kill them and hated by humans because they're afraid of me. One more person isn't going to make much difference."

"I'm sorry it's just…I really wish I had someone who'd have my back no matter what." Rinoa looked up at Dante. "I want Mika." With that Rinoa burst into several minutes of the most desperate bawling Dante had ever heard. He waited patiently for her crying to run its course. Finally she got a hold of herself. "I really miss him Dante. I think…I think I loved him."

"Mika was…is my brother." Dante said quietly. "I can always read him well and if one thing was clear to me, it's that he loved you. Personally I think that you should get some sleep. I'll stay here to keep an eye on you and once you've slept on it we can re-evaluate the situation. If you want I can get rid of Squall for you. I'll make it look like a painful accident."

"Don't tempt me Dante." Rinoa said.

"Just putting it out there." Dante said before pulling his jacket off and dumping it on the armchair in the corner. "That diabolical old torture device the comfy chair. That'll do me fine."

* * *

A few hours later, after asking Zell to keep an eye on Rinoa while he was gone, Dante headed down to the detention block to carry out Quistis' orders. He unlocked Squall's cell door and cast a look at him.

"What do you want?" Squall demanded.

"You're being let out." Dante said as he unlocked the second door to the cell. "You'll have free range of Garden and everyone in this building will be updated about your return. No one outside of Garden will learn of your return. If the media gets wind of it we will find out who's responsible and they'll be expelled on the spot."

"What about Rinoa?" Squall asked as he stood up and pulled on his jacket. "Is she okay?"

"What do you think?" Dante replied. "My personal opinion is that you give her some space. She'll come around eventually."

"How do you know I'll stick around?" Squall growled. "You and I both know that if I want to leave nothing will stop me."

"You're right." Dante nodded. "If you decide to do a runner security won't stop you. If you do go, Quistis has given me free rein to deal with you in any way I see fit. I'm telling you now, disappear on us and I will look for you. I will find you. I will kill you."

"Coming on pretty strong aren't you." Squall observed. "You shouldn't underestimate me."

"It's because I know exactly what you're capable of that we need you to stay here." Dante shrugged. "If we're going to go after Alexander then we'll need you to help."

* * *

**Thank God I got this chapter done. I was legitimately dreading it and I'm sorry for the delay. As ever thanks to all my readers and reviewers, MissPhoenix18 and geelouxo I'm looking at you. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: The Nature of the Beast**

Squall waited until the small hours of the morning before he headed for the rear exit from Balamb Garden. He was travelling very light, armed only with his gun blade, enough Forbidden magic to start a war and a rucksack stuffed full of all the information Garden had on Alexander Obsidian, cheerfully liberated from the intelligence department. As far as Squall was concerned Dante would have to do well to catch him and kill him. The guy wasn't low profile at the best of times so Squall would see him coming ten miles away. Squall opened the door and slipped out into the cool air. Then he jumped about a foot in the air as a voice spoke up form behind him.

"You're a very stupid boy." Seifer said as he lounged against the wall to the immediate left of the door.

"So what now?" Squall said quietly as he turned to face his rival. "Are you the one who's going to stop me from leaving? It's been a while Seifer. Do you want to see if you still measure up?"

"Everyone who matters in this establishment has their orders to not stop you leaving." Seifer told him evenly. "You should still consider very carefully about leaving. I know what Dante told you and it's true. If you leave once again Quistis is quite happy to let him kill you. Leave, and you sign your own death warrant. Knowing Dante, he'll carry it out in a creative, painful and disturbing original manner."

"If he finds me." Squall said. "I'm quite confident in my ability to keep one step ahead of him."

"Dante has wanted the Obsidian family dead for four hundred years." Seifer retorted evenly. "He'll never stop hunting you, and sooner or later he'll get lucky. You're a gifted fighter Squall but Dante is a vampire. A vampire who wants you dead and a vampire who has the bloodlust and ability to make it happen. Keep walking out of here and you'll be looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life which I'm guessing will be pretty short. Do you seriously want to live like that?"

"You know something Seifer?" Squall bit off harshly. "When I start needing life advice from you of all people, then I'll _really _know I'm screwed."

"You know what? I don't see why I'm trying to talk some sense into you." Seifer dusted his hands off melodramatically. "It's pretty obvious that you're well beyond help."

"I never asked for your help!" Squall snapped immediately firing up at Seifer who simply regarded him brazenly.

"Maybe that's what you've been doing wrong all these years." Seifer said before opening the door and heading back inside, calling over his shoulder. "Alexander has friends. You could do with some."

Squall sighed in annoyance and continued on his way, forcing the vague feeling that Seifer may have a point to the back of his mind. It took him less than two minutes to clear the perimeter of Balamb Garden premises, dodging the odd night porter or restless SeeD. He was close enough to identify one of the latter as Zell. Squall waited until he was well out of sight before heading on. He wasn't sure if he could stomach someone else trying to convince him to stay. Squall quickly moved to the place he'd left his car. He dragged the impromptu camouflage off it before unlocking and opening the boot.

The first thing Squall saw was Dante lying in the boot. Then the vampire's arm shot up and he jabbed a cattle prod under Squall's rib cage. Squall howled bloody murder as the shock coursed through him and he collapsed face down on the damp ground. Dante cackled as he climbed out of the boot. He kicked Squall over onto his back and treated him to a second jolt with the cattle prod for good measure.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say you weren't prepared to see me." Dante said conversationally. "I did warn you not to leave but you chose not to heed. I did say that I'd kill you but I have some more interesting ideas." He jolted Squall a third time and then crouching down he wrenched Squall's boots and socks off. Squall knew what was coming. He knew from resistance to interrogation training that being whipped on the sole of the foot was excruciatingly painful. Squall guessed Dante didn't have a whip although the cattle prod would be adequate for the job he had in mind.

"Dante I swear you're going to regret this." Squall growled, trying to sound threatening even though he was fully aware that Dante wasn't scared of him.

"Did I say you could speak?" Dante said before jolting Squall on the soles of both feet in quick succession. Squall let out a howl of agony and numerous obscenities. Dante waited for the convulsions, abuse and expressions of pain to subside before crouching next to Squall's face. "Okay you can speak now."

"Why are you doing this?" Squall gasped. He could taste blood in his mouth from biting his tongue. "You can't keep me in Balamb Garden. It's a violation of my human rights."

"I'm a vampire numb-nuts." Dante said, twirling the cattle prod menacingly. "You can take your precious human rights and shove them up your arse. Now why don't I barbecue your bollocks for you? I think we should crank the voltage up a bit, what say you?" Before Squall could reply another voice spoke up. Specifically a voice that scared the hell out of Squall.

"Stand down Dante, we need him alive." Swift walked into Squall's field of vision with a smile on his face. "Hello Squall."

Despite the fact Squall remembered Dante telling him that Swift was working with them Squall immediately scrambled to his feet and attempted to beat a hasty retreat. Dante however had other ideas. He lunged forward and felled Squall by shocking him in the back of both knees. Squall collapsed with a loud groan of pain.

"You don't need to worry." Dante told Squall. "Swift isn't going to hurt you. I'll be doing the actual torture and murder. Swift will just watch and offer tips on how to inflict maximum pain."

"The torture and murder is not a foregone conclusion." Swift said, looking down at Squall. "You can save yourself the pain and save Dante the effort. If I know Dante he'll start by breaking every bone in your body."

"If I know Squall he's all broken up that you spoiled the surprise." Dante quipped before toe poking Squall. "Basically Swift was right Squall. You can keep your extremities. In fact from this moment onwards you won't get a scratch if you say the right things. If you don't well maybe they'll be enough of you left to fill a mess tin that we can bury up at the cemetery. Do you understand?"

"What do you want to know?" Squall asked as Dante dragged him into a sitting position against the side of the car.

"How far are you willing to go in order to kill my brother?" Swift asked as he sat down on a tree stump facing Squall. "You could well end up losing yourself along the way. Can you live with that?"

"There's always casualty's in a war." Squall grunted. "Alexander needs to be stopped. He removed my soul, causing me to hurt the most precious people in my life and cause them no end of heartache. He raped my mind, and thanks to him I beheaded a man simply because he wasn't doing a job which I knew would take time. I attacked Selphie and verbally abused Rinoa. Then just to cap it off I ended up as an accessory to the apocalypse. That's all on Alexander. Then there's everything Alexander has done over the years, not to mention sending Dante to an unspeakable hell dimension and taking his wife and unborn child away from him." He shot a look at Dante. "I am truly sorry about that. You're a world class dickhead Dante but no one deserves that."

"You have to be sure this is what you want." Swift continued. "I won't lie to you. This is a kamikaze mission. When we go up against Alexander people will die. Quite a lot of people I daresay. We won't all make it through this. If I'm being totally honest I think the only way this will end is with all of us dead. Maybe, just maybe we'll take him with us."

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Squall said. "Alexander needs to be destroyed once and for all. SeeD was founded to protect the people in the world, and I can't think of a better reason to die."

* * *

After dumping Squall in Irvine's recently vacated dorm room, Dante decided to check on Rinoa. He found her awake, sitting on her bed and reading one of the _Twilight_ books. Dante stuck his fingers down his throat before sitting in a chair and opening the latest issue of _Guns and Ammo_. Secretly Dante thought he saw a little progress. Rinoa had spent the last couple of days doing nothing but crying, sleeping and blaming Dante for everything, simply because he was there. Dante was finding her mood swings a little hard to follow but they, like everything else were small potatoes compared to what he'd started referring to as his "three century long holiday in hell".

"Where did you go?" Rinoa enquired without looking up. "I missed having someone to verbally abuse."

"If you must know your boyfriend did a runner." Dante replied. "I was charged with locating him if he did."

"Okay point one; he's not my boyfriend." Rinoa hurled back. "Point two I heard you were charged to do a great deal more than locating him if he did attempt to disappear on us. So I have to ask, did you kill him?"

"I certainly wanted to, but no I didn't." Dante sighed as he pulled out his hipflask and took a mouthful of whisky. "Funnily enough Swift Obsidian made a convincing case to keep him alive, and I happen to think he could be useful. So no, I didn't kill him but I did hit him a couple of times with a cattle prod."

"Did you hear how Quistis is going to explain away his death when it eventually comes out that he's back?" Rinoa asked. "She seems pretty confident that people will believe he was deep undercover. I don't see it personally but I trust Quistis knows what she's doing. That said, I think she may have other things occupying her mind soon enough."

"You're talking about Seifer right?" Dante guessed shrewdly. "Are those two ever going to see the light?" Dante knew that Seifer was well aware of his feelings about Quistis, but he'd sworn him to secrecy.

"They'll get there eventually." Rinoa said simply. "They're bound to take their time but they're only delaying the inevitable. If you want my opinion I think they're made for each other."

"Oh yeah?" Dante arched an eyebrow sceptically. "How so?"

"Well you were Quistis' last solid relationship." Rinoa pointed out. "You and Seifer are very similar individuals. You've both got a short fuse and a bad boy image. You and Quistis had your ups and downs but she definitely had strong feelings for you, ergo she could afford Seifer the same. In the long term, I don't think Seifer is father material so it seems natural he ends up with someone who can't procreate. Then there's the fact that this is Seifer." Rinoa smiled wickedly. "My guess is that he'll satisfy Quistis. He always managed it with me."

"Hold the phone!" Dante yelled as he sat bolt upright and sent his magazine across the room. "You and Seifer? When was this?"

"A few months before I met Squall." Rinoa shrugged. "I thought I was in love with him at the time and you know what that means in a sixteen year old hormone bomb with a rebellious streak a mile wide."

"I must say Rinoa, you get yourself about." Dante observed. "First Seifer, then Squall. Next, in what I'm pretty sure was irrevocable proof you were losing your marbles you went for Mika and then me. Who's next? Swift? Zell? Irvine?"

"I will never sleep with Swift." Rinoa said firmly. "As for Zell and Irvine, they're like my brothers. It'd feel like incest. Now can we change the subject?"

"Okay then." Dante leaned forwards and fixed Rinoa with that mesmerizing gaze of his. "You've had some time to think and process Squall's return so how are you feeling about it?"

"It's still too much for my head, so I'm trying to not think about it and failing rather miserably." Rinoa's voice shook noticeably. "I'm not ready to face him. I know I'll have to eventually but I don't see myself working up the courage any time soon."

"You should give yourself more credit." Dante warned her. "You discovered the love of your life was resurrected and then you saw him, I can't blame you for freaking out the way you did. I've seen some pretty mind-blowing things in my time and you know how I dealt with them? I channelled them into my thirst for vengeance."

"Dante let me give you one piece of advice." Rinoa said. "I'm pretty sure you've heard it before, but try to listen. It's not an intelligent thing to do, devoting your entire existence to revenge and rage. Anger is a powerful emotion, but it's also a double edged sword…"

"Is this the part where you tell me anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering?" Dante interrupted. "I know what you're trying to say Rinoa but it's far too late for me. I've been bent on revenge for nearly four centuries. No one has convinced me to give it up."

"Then permit me to ask this." Rinoa went on. "Let's say you manage to kill Swift and Alexander. What then? You'll have used up all your revenge. I may be wrong but my guess is that killing Swift and Alexander won't bring you peace."

"Rinoa I'm a vampire hunting vampire." Dante stated simply. "Peace was never an option for me."

"That's gloomy." Rinoa observed.

"That's life, figuratively speaking." Dante retorted. "I think my best chance to end Alexander and Swift is to join with Balamb Garden and SeeD but once that's done, I'm leaving permanently. This is not the natural habitat for a man of my talents."

"Is there any point in trying to reason with you?" Rinoa asked.

"No." Dante replied. "Maybe I've helped but I've still done some pretty serious damage to my reputation. For one thing, I made a lot of enemies back when I was looking out for Seifer. Then I turned Quistis which I am deeply, deeply ashamed of. I don't need a daily reminder."

"Have you not considered that there are some people who might miss you?" Rinoa challenged him. "Seifer for one. I guess an argument could be made for me to join him on the list of people who'll miss you when you're gone."

"You're both accustomed to the tough side of life." Dante replied. "You'll get over it. I'm under no illusions Rinoa. Regardless of whether or not we win against Alexander I've got a feeling that I won't make it out alive. Whatever my faults, my instincts tend to be pretty accurate."

"You vampires." Rinoa snorted. "You're a bunch of doom and gloom mongers the lot of you. Haven't you watched _Monty Python's Life of Brian_? Always look on the bright side of life?"

"I think the line about always looking on the bright side of death is more appropriate." Dante grunted. "I'm not afraid to die."

"So enlighten me Dante," Rinoa enquired unwilling to let him get the better of her. "What is the bright side of death?"

"Well for one thing I won't have to put up with Nina popping up every now and then to cause more havoc." Dante answered. "Then there's a promise I made to myself. If my quest for revenge got me killed, I always swore I'd try to take at least one of 'em with me."

* * *

The following weekend Quistis decided to send the four people (exempting Swift and Rinoa) that she deemed as the most threatening to Alexander to the Island Closest to Hell in order to test their capabilities and assess their effectiveness in working as a team over three days. Dante privately thought she was asking for a minor miracle getting he, Zell, Seifer and Squall to work as a team because no one got on with everyone else. Zell and Seifer had deep rooted mutual hatred, and despite the fact they respected each other, Squall and Seifer would never be bosom friends. During the flight Dante had to hold himself back from throttling Squall. Seifer was constantly running a stone along the blade of his battle knife and the grating noise was beginning to annoy Dante.

"Seifer," He said eventually. "The knife's sharp. It's razor sharp. It's a sharp as it's going to get."

"Unlike his brain." Xu observed as she walked past. Quistis was busy so Xu was a non-participating controller for this expedition. Technically speaking, the team leader was Zell, as Seifer was still a SeeD cadet while Squall and Dante were both outside contractors.

"You love me." Seifer said, his green eyes sparkling with malice at Xu. "You want to have my babies."

"Yeah right Seifer," Xu snapped, firing up at once. "In your dreams." Seifer immediately shut up, mindful of the recurring theme his dreams had. It was almost as if someone was deliberately messing with him as every time he closed his eyes he found himself with Quistis, usually in varying states of undress and infinite compromising positions. Seifer was jerked out of his reverie by Selphie's voice coming over the intercom.

"Twenty seconds." She announced and the four warriors got to their feet and checked all their weaponry and equipment before moving towards the opening door of the cargo hold. They'd be jumping onto the island from the hovering airship in pairs. Dante and Zell went first, collapsing onto their sides to take the force out of the landing. Then they leapt up and cleared the area for Seifer and Squall who hit the ground at the same time. The Ragnarok rose quickly away from them and hovered twenty thousand feet above them, ready for any emergency.

The first monster the quartet came across was a Hexadragon. It's six red eyes glared at them and the monster opened it's cavernous jaws and roared at them with vindictive fury. They all exchanged looks before going into action.

Zell and Dante charged at the beast head on. Zell leapt into the air and started delivering a savage flurry of punches and kicks to the beast's head and face. Dante dropped to the floor and skidded between the Hexadragons front legs. He then wrenched out his MAC10 and emptied the entire magazine into it's scantily protected underside. The Hexadragon roared and reared upwards but Dante was unperturbed as he ejected the spent magazine and slammed a fresh one in. Seifer and Squall meanwhile came in from the left and the right, both attacking the monster's sides at the same time, scoring several hits.

For some reason unknown to science, monsters on the Island Closest to Hell were far more powerful and resilient than their counterparts in other parts of the world and this Hexadragon was no exception. It brought it's massive tail into play and using it as an immense bullwhip managed to knock Squall and Zell flying. It couldn't get at Dante's with it's tail so it elected to simply crush him beneath it's immense bulk. Dante rolled out from beneath it and realised far too late that the monster had anticipated the move. A tail swipe launched him nearly forty metres away. Seifer was facing the monster on his own while his comrades recovered so he dug into his belt kit and without missing a beat hurled a flash bang grenade in the beast's face. The optimum environment for a flash bang was an enclosed space, and the island was about as far from enclosed as possible. Nevertheless, a flash bang going off in your face was one thing no one could ignore. The Hexadragon reared up and Seifer grinned bloodthirstily.

"Tell me when it hurts." He muttered to himself as he charged forwards and unleashed a barrage of fast accurate cuts that targeted the monster's weak points with pinpoint accuracy. It responded with it's dreaded cyclone like Breath ability but Seifer dodged the twister of superheated air and came right back to the attack, dancing around the monster, inflicting multiple gashes and lacerations while easily dodging any retaliatory attacks. Not to be outdone, Zell was the first to return to the fray. Bristling with rage he let out an inarticulate bellow as he went with his trademark berserk charge. The Hexadragon, still distracted by Seifer didn't see him until it was too late. Zell leapt into the air, double kicked the beast in the face and then wrapped his legs around the huge neck. Then he proceeded to rain punch after punch on the monster's face.

Squall and Dante recovered pretty much at the same time and forced themselves to their feet. They took the scene in at a glance. In spite of the prodigious skill and extreme violence Seifer and Zell were employing the Hexadragon still seemed game for an almighty rumble. None of it's retaliatory attacks were having any effect but it couldn't last. Zell in particular was in a perilous position. Sooner or later the Hexadragon would use it's Breath ability again and at such close range it would probably blow a huge hole in the brawlers chest. Squall immediately recognised that the beast's superior vitality would probably decide the fight so while he and Dante moved forwards he cast a Meltdown spell on the monster that bellowed in agony.

The beast finally managed to dislodge Zell and the first target it got in it's sights was Dante who was leaning on his sword and observing the beast with an air of polite detachment. The vampire barely blinked as the monster thundered towards him and opened it's mouth wide. Dante calmly produced a magnesium flare from his belt kit and lit it…before shoving it straight down the Hexadragons throat. The monster immediately lost interest in them and promptly went berserk, stomping around and spitting in between roars of displeasure. It was Seifer and Squall who decided to act on the unorthodox but highly effective distraction Dante had provided. The beast was so engrossed in removing the flare that it didn't notice Squall leaping onto it's back and Seifer charging towards it. Squall dug the point of his weapon into the back of the beast's neck and drove it in up to the hilt. Seifer did the same with the front and the Hexadragon went rigid as both weapons penetrated the brain. Neither Squall nor Seifer were disposed to taking chances so they pulled their triggers simultaneously, liquidising the contents of the beasts head and killing it instantly. As the beast crashed over Squall leapt off and wiped his gun bale clean on a tussock of grass.

"Well If I'm honest, that was a bit sad." Squall announced before rolling his eyes heavenwards. "I don't think the forces of darkness are even trying hard. You could give us something a little more tenacious says I."

"We're here for three days." Dante pointed out. "So I'm sure something particularly nasty will show up and rip us a few new holes unless we get some sleep." He opened his rucksack and pulled out a compact sleeping bag.

"We can't sleep here!" Zell exclaimed. "This island is crawling with monsters that could probably kill fully qualified SeeD's in ten seconds flat."

"If you want to go three days without sleep on an island infested with very nasty monsters you'll do it alone." Squall said. "I hate to admit it but Dante's right. We need sleep otherwise we won't be good for anything. We'll have to post a watch."

"Four hours on, four hours off." Seifer joined in before checking his watch. "It's nigh on eight at night so Dante and I will relieve you two at midnight okay. When we're not on the watch we get out heads down and get as much rest as possible. I think we're going to need it before long."

Zell wasn't happy with the idea but he simply shrugged and sat down with his back against a rock to join Squall for the watch. Dante and Seifer drawled into their sleeping bags and were asleep almost immediately.

"Go on then Zell." Squall said quietly. "I know there's something you want to get off your chest."

"Why didn't you tell us you were back from the dead?" Zell growled. "It's not that I'm glad you're back but Edea was pretty depressed when she though the resurrection spell didn't work. I felt sorry for her."

"Believe me Zell, I have my reasons." Squall said. "If I'm honest they're kind of personal. If you're really desperate to know what they are you can ask Rinoa. Better still, ask Dante. I'm pretty sure he'd leap at the chance to betray my confidence."

"I'm a bit worried about Dante." Zell said in a carefully measured voice. "I think that his hatred for Alexander may affect his judgement. We'll have to come up with a pretty brilliant plan to stand a chance against him, but knowing Dante his insane lust for revenge will probably result in him deviating from the plan and quite possibly chucking a monkey wrench into the works. Do you think we should convince him to stay out of it?"

"If we did that our life expectancy would be worse than a chocolate éclair at a weightwatchers convention." Squall said. "I may not like it, but Dante's a handy guy. From what I've heard he's picked a fight with every member of the Obsidian family and he's still standing. He could be helpful. If for nothing else he'll give Alexander someone else to aim at."

"You're the boss." Zell grunted.

"Wrong." Squall said simply. "Quistis is still the Commander and me coming back from the dead doesn't change that. Whoever chose her as my successor is a genius. She's who I would've chosen and I'll happily follow her orders."

"Can I tell her you said that?" Zell asked. "We both know Quistis has a history of self-doubt and I think you're ringing endorsement might help her realise that she's a born leader."

* * *

**I suck I know. Apologies for the delay but I had a few problems to deal with, writers block being one. Thank you for your patience and continuing support. Special thanks to geelouxo and MissPhoenix18, I hope others will leave a review or two eventually. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: Therapy**

Rinoa looked up when an insistent rapping came on the door and was instantly sure of who was knocking. Knocking was actually a pretty broad term as Rinoa's visitor had an uncanny ability to nearly reduce doors to splinters because she didn't know her own Guardian Force enhanced strength. Rinoa sighed and set the book she was reading aside before calling out.

"It's open Selphie." She called before allowing herself a small smile as Selphie bounced into the room as usual like a neurotic, overexcited, espresso addicted whirlwind of hyperactivity. "What can I do for you?"

"Quistis sent Zell, Seifer, Squall and Dante to the Island Closest to Hell." Selphie explained promptly. "However, before he left Dante came to me and said you were down in the dumps, and who can blame you given the way Squall behaved. He comes back to life and doesn't even make the effort to let you know? I ask you! Well, anyway Dante said you were a little depressed so I've decided how I can make you feel better, short of getting a Squall voodoo doll. Long story short, you need fun and I am going to make sure you get it."

"Really?" Rinoa raised an eyebrow sceptically, well aware that Selphie didn't have a normal person's idea of fun.

"Absolutely!" Selphie bellowed. "Squall is not here, so why don't you leave your room and mingle with your fellow SeeD's. You know there are a lot of people who are concerned about you and I think it might set their minds at rest to see you out and about. I appreciate that you're going through a tough time Rin but hiding yourself away won't do you any good."

"Thanks for the concern Selphie but I'm not quite ready to face the world at this moment in time." Rinoa said before picking up her book resolutely. "Close your door on the way out please."

"Oh no, nothing doing!" Selphie exclaimed, plucking the book from Rinoa's hands and tossing it over her shoulder. "You'll need to face the world sooner or later. By extension, you'll also have to face Squall so what better time to readjust to the world and prepare to talk to him than when he's on a remote island chopping nasty monsters into croutons?"

"Selphie, I'm really not in the mood." Rinoa said, trying to sound ominous. "Can I have my book back?"

"No but fortunately you don't get a vote in this." Selphie proclaimed. "You need some fun and I am honour bound as your friend to make it happen whether you like it or not. Now, are you going to cooperate or am I going to have to get unprofessional?"

Rinoa rolled her eyes and in the process she noticed Quistis standing in the doorway observing the proceedings impassively. Rinoa barely supressed a smile at the thought of salvation.

"Quistis," She said ignoring Selphie, who was now pouting outrageously at Rinoa's reluctance to get back into the swing of things. "Tell Selphie that I'm fine and that I don't need any fun."

"Actually I'm with Selphie on this one." Quistis said, getting a sense of guilty satisfaction at the look on Rinoa's face. "You seriously need fun and I think there's no better time to have it when Squall is on the other side of the planet. Humour us a little please?"

"I don't know how many times I can say I'm not in the mood." Rinoa hurled back obstinately.

"You're so stubborn." Selphie observed. "Luckily, I'm vastly more persistent than you are stubborn. So Rin, the choice is yours. You can give up now, or we can go round and round in circles and see who gets bored first."

"I've got a hundred and fifty on you Rinoa." Quistis added with an uncharacteristically wicked smile.

"Look guys, I appreciate the sentiment but what I'm going through doesn't just go away like that." Rinoa said, trying to sound sincere. "Fun is just a distraction not a cure so just let me deal in my own way in my own time."

"She's being unreasonable." Selphie observed before looking to the blonde. "Quistis, time for plan B what say you?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Quistis said, marching forwards and stopping by the foot of the bed. "Okay Rinoa, I'll make this simple for you. Either you agree to come out of this room and have some fun of your own will in the next ten seconds or…"

"Or what?" Rinoa demanded aggressively, her temper being pushed to breaking point.

"Or I'll pull rank on you and order you to come out and have some fun." Quistis threatened. "I'm beginning to think maybe I shouldn't have sent Dante to the Island Closest to Hell what with the hold he has over you."

"Dante hasn't got a hold over me!" Rinoa shouted indignantly. "We slept together once, for very different reasons. If he was here, he'd have given up by now because he respects my ability to make my own decisions."

"You're not thinking clearly and if Dante was here he'd say the exact same thing." Selphie exclaimed. "You need to clear your head Rin, and we want to help you as your friends. Hey, we're all single so we should go to a club, find three studs and then use 'em and discard them. That's always fun!"

"You're not helping our case Selphie." Quistis observed dryly.

"Come on Rin, it'll be great fun!" Selphie wheedled. "You can even have the best looking one!"

"I'm not sure if having mindless sex with the very first lunk head that comes her way is the best way for Rinoa to recover from the shock she's suffered seeing Squall again after everything." Quistis said carefully. "That said, I think some fun is in order and you have a choice Rinoa. You can either go willingly or we can drag you all the way there."

"You wouldn't dare." Rinoa said.

"Okay we're done asking nicely!" Selphie said before darting forwards and grabbing Rinoa by the waist and hefting her over her shoulder. Rinoa had a good few inches on Selphie so Quistis fought a mad desire to laugh at the sight of the diminutive SeeD lifting the Sorceress bodily with little exertion.

"Selphie Mariana Avril Tilmitt!" Rinoa shrieked deafeningly. "Put me down right now! Do you hear me?"

"Hard not to." Selphie replied cheerfully. "I'll only put you down when you promise to behave, stop moping and start living your life. First of all, you need a shower and I'll wash you myself if I have to."

"Okay fine!" Rinoa finally relented as she ceased her struggles. "You win. I'll come out just please put me down!"

"Your wish is my command." Selphie said, setting Rinoa down on her feet. "We'll come by to pick you up at eight o' clock okay!"

"Whatever." Rinoa folded her arms grumpily. "Just don't go expecting me to join in jumping the bones of the very first guy who looks at me. That, I am _seriously _not in the mood for."

* * *

Rinoa figured the best thing to do was to look like she'd made an effort so she washed her hair and dressed in casual but stylish clothes, something that was discreet but wouldn't look out of place in a nightclub. She teamed heels, jeans and a black short sleeved shirt with the medium length black leather jacket that had once been owned by a certain Mika Skyle. When Rinoa reached the parking lot she saw that Quistis had solved the problem of deciding who the designated driver would be by ordering SeeD Mark Astonol to drive them to the club. He smiled at Rinoa as the Sorceress got into the car.

"Rin!" Selphie squealed before grabbing Rinoa in a bear hug. "We weren't sure you would really come!"

"Like you gave me much in the way of choice." Rinoa thundered once Selphie had released her. "Come on then, let's get this over with."

"Can you at least look like you want to be here?" Quistis asked as she climbed into the car while Mark started the engine. "We're supposed to be having some fun tonight and we can't really do that with you standing around with a face like a wet weekend now can we?"

"Well I'm sorry but recent events haven't given me much reason to smile." Rinoa pointed out sullenly.

Quistis shook her head before she felt her phone vibrating. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked it to discover a text message from Selphie who was sitting on Rinoa's other side less than a metre away.

**We need 2 get Rin mortal drunk. **

Rinoa was too busy repeatedly counting her shoes to notice the look that Quistis and Selphie exchanged, or the nod that Quistis gave. The rest of the journey to Balamb passed in silence. When he dropped then off Mark offered to wait around in Balamb to give them a ride back but Quistis simply decided to get a taxi instead. After a short detour to the nearest shopping precinct to get some money the three girls queued outside the club where they'd come across Dante Skyle for the first time. The violence of that night was still evidently fresh in the bouncer's minds.

"Please try to curb any violent urges." One of the bouncers said as they stepped inside.

"Don't worry Eddie," Selphie replied pulling a wide eyed expression of innocence. "We're not naturally confrontational people. The only way we're going to get into a fight is in self-defence."

"Right then," Quistis shouted over the thumping bass as the girls walked into the main room of the club and looked around. "I'll get the drinks in. You…" She locked eyes with Rinoa. "...have fun."

"Whatever." Rinoa shrugged before plucking a cocktail menu off a nearby surface and examining it briefly. "Get me a hurricane."

"A hurricane it is." Quistis nodded before looking to Selphie. "Want anything in particular Selph?"

"Surprise me." Selphie said before tugging on Rinoa's arm. "Come on Rin, we're going to talk to the DJ's. Oh and undo your top two buttons. You'd be surprised what some cleavage can do. One of these days I'm going to prove that a guy's IQ drops by about twenty points when he can see your knockers."

Quistis laughed and shook her head as she headed for the bar. If anyone could pull Rinoa out of the state Squall's return had put her into it would be Selphie. Zell had often theorised that prolonged exposure to the diminutive SeeD's irrepressible optimism and cheerfulness could result in spontaneous outbursts of "Shiny Happy People" by R.E.M. Quistis ordered Rinoa's hurricane, a bottle of beer for herself and a vodka and Coke for Selphie before turning away from the bar and observing the roiling mass of dancers. She briefly contemplated hitting on someone for a little light entertainment but quickly decided against it. She had to focus on Seifer with the field exam looming. She didn't know why but she had a bad feeling that if Seifer failed this one it really would be the final break for him. Dealing with someone like Seifer very rarely went hand in hand with a healthy love life.

As the night wore on, the alcohol Selphie and Quistis were plying Rinoa with was starting to do its job and by eleven o'clock Rinoa had loosened up to the extent that she was quite happily dancing the night away and had a boys phone number written on her neck. Quistis was content to let the night pass her by and keep a close eye on Rinoa while Selphie, as per usual was the life and soul of the party. After a particularly up tempo song, Selphie left the dance floor and accepted a shot of tequila form Quistis.

"Rin seems to have lightened up says I." Selphie slurred slightly as she swallowed the shot. "It was a good idea to come out with us."

"Once again there's no problem that cannot be solved by gratuitous amounts of malted hops." Quistis grinned, before throwing an amused look at Selphie who was swaying alarmingly. "Are you okay?"

"Who me?" Selphie burped in a distinctly unladylike way pointed clumsily at herself. "I'm fine. I'm going to feel like hell in the morning though. Now Quistis, let's get totally mashed!" Selphie followed this with a decisive hiccough.

"What the hell." Quistis relented before turning towards the bar and deciding against her better judgement to buy a bottle of the highest alcohol content possible. She turned back to Selphie, only to see the blood drain from the diminutive brunettes face. "Selphie, are you okay?"

"Quistis, listen very carefully to me." Selphie said seriously. "Whatever you do, don't turn around. I'm serious."

"What is it Selphie?" Quistis asked uneasily, knowing that someone as cheerful (and drunk) as Selphie would need an extremely good reason to be so serious.

"Wait for a few seconds then look along the back wall." Selphie said. "Near the fire exit? Do you see him?"

For a few seconds Quistis wasn't entirely sure what Selphie was talking about and then a movement caught her eye. Near the fire exit, a man standing in the shadows turned his head and revealed his profile to Quistis who very nearly had a heart attack on the spot. He was watching the dance floor hungrily and Quistis was sure his reappearance heralded nothing but trouble.

It was Gaston Obsidian.

* * *

Swift was working out in the Training Centre when his phone started to vibrate. He sighed in annoyance, sheathed his sword and fished the phone from his pocket and checking the caller ID. It was Quistis and Swift guessed he should probably answer it otherwise she would never leave him alone. He flipped the tiny communicator open and put it to his ear.

"This had better be important." He growled dangerously. "You're interrupting my special me time."

"Oh it's important alright!" Quistis snapped down the phone. "I'm in a club in Balamb with Selphie and Rinoa. We were having fun until we notice that Gaston is also in the club and I don't know about you but I don't believe in coincidences."

"Gaston?" swift echoed, horror struck. "Ah shit this cannot be happening!"

"That's what I thought." Quistis said in a voice of determined calm. "What's he doing here?"

"Well ordinarily I'd say that if we think about it a logical reason will quickly become apparent but this is Gaston we're talking about, not Alexander." Swift laughed humourlessly. "Gaston doesn't do logic."

"Well to hell with why he's here." Quistis said dismissively. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"You do nothing about it." Swift ordered, his tone making it absolutely clear there was to be no argument. "Listen to me Quistis. Whatever you do don't confront him. You don't stand a chance against someone like Gaston. I'd usually want Dante and maybe Seifer backing me up on this but don't do anything until I get there. I daresay I'm the only person in Balamb who can handle Gaston. Promise me you won't do anything stupid."

"Okay fine, I promise." Quistis sighed before her voice hardened. "I'll warn you now if Gaston becomes a direct threat to anyone I'm not just going to stand there. It's not my style." Before Swift could answer there was a click and the line went dead. Swift was left staring at the phone as if it was handful of plague virus while dozens of potential disasters started flipping through his mind. Gaston had always been the hardest of his siblings to pin down and second guess because no one knew how his mind worked. He was very random and most of his moves were seldom very subtle. Swift spun around and sprinted out of the Training Centre and towards the Parking Lot. He hadn't brought his own car to the Garden so he quickly unlocked Squall's Alfa Romeo and roared out of the Garden at insane speed. He cursed under his breath when he realised Quistis hadn't said which club she was in. Swift wound down the window and inhaled. He couldn't pin point Quistis' scent but as he tried he picked up Gaston's. Swift stopped a few hundred yards down the road from the club and got out. His gun blade was too cumbersome to hide so he left it in the car, preferring to rely on his strength, speed and intelligence to deal with Gaston. The Colt Python .357 revolver strapped to the back of his waist couldn't hurt either. Swift queued outside the club. He could've gone through the entire queue and the bouncers with little thought but the element of surprise was everything. Swift didn't want Gaston catching his scent so as soon as he entered the club he headed up a staircase near the entrance to the main room and into the open air smoking area. He pulled out his phone and sent Quistis a text, telling her to meet him there. Roughly a minute later the door burst open and she headed over to him.

"Where are Selphie and Rinoa?" Swift asked.

"I left them down there." Quistis replied. "Rinoa's a Sorceress and Selphie can do stuff with magic that makes Lord Voldemort look like a magician at a child's party. They can handle themselves."

"Lord Voldemort?" Switch arched one eyebrow. "Nerd. Listen to me Quistis, where Gaston is concerned there are absolutely no guarantees. He's super strong and utterly impossible to reason with, a dangerous combination. We'll have to deal with him violently."

"I sense there's a little more to it than that." Quistis observed.

"I could go downstairs right now and subdue him." Swift explained. "However if I were to do that there would be a great deal of collateral damage and given that this _is _Gaston we're talking about, the collateral would most likely be a lot of bodies."

"That's totally unacceptable Swift!" Quistis exclaimed. "They're innocent people. There has to be another way."

"I thought you might say that." Swift smiled. "So let me posit this as an alternative course of action. You go downstairs and create a distraction, something loud and very noticeable, and something which will clear the club pronto. Then once, it's empty I'll come in and do the heavy lifting, preferably with Rinoa backing me up. Sound good?"

"I suppose it'll have to do." Quistis nodded. "Wait until you hear an almighty commotion then feel free to come storming in all guns blazing."

Quistis immediately headed downstairs, wondering how best to create a distraction. It looked like it was Blue Magic time. Quistis re-entered the main room and surreptitiously checked that Gaston was still where he was. He hadn't moved and after a quick check that Rinoa and Selphie were not on the dance floor Quistis went into action. First she targeted the DJ and grabbing him by the back of his shirt tossed him over the nearest bar. Then Quistis launched some Aqua Breath at all the electronic equipment. The music ground to halt while the DJ's booth was filled with flashes and sparks to the soundtrack of shorting and arcing circuits. While every eye turned towards the DJ booth Quistis sighted on one of the lights on the ceiling and hit it dead on with her Homing Laser. The light exploded with a deafening bang and superheated glass showered the dance floor. Selphie and Rinoa clearly got the idea and started launching spells at other lights.

Chaos was instantaneous. Everyone in the room panicked and started a mass stampede for the doors and the bouncers were too few to hold back the terrified patrons, bars staff and technicians. One person who was less than rattled by the proceedings was Gaston who simply reached behind the nearest bar and grabbed a bottle of whisky. Then he deposited himself on a sofa and propped his feet up on the table and taking a drink. As the final patrons left the bouncers made it into the room but only to find their path blocked by Selphie.

"Official Balamb Garden business." She said, trying to sound as sober as possible. "I'll have to ask you to wait outside." The bouncers took one look at Selphie's ID and followed the patrons out of the club. "Don't let the police in here." Selphie called after them. "This is a serious matter they're not prepared to deal with." The room was left empty apart from Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie and Gaston.

"Well I'm impressed." Gaston drawled arrogantly as he took a mouthful of whisky. "What can I do for you ladies?"

"Well you can start by telling us exactly what you're doing here." Rinoa growled, keeping a wary eye on him. "Before you start please don't try and fob us off with some garbage. You lie to us and we may feel obligated to hurt you."

"Are you trying to turn me on?" Gaston chuckled. "Maybe I just fancied a drink in my local nightclub. This place has it all. Whisky, vodka, beer, rum and my personal favourite. AB Positive. Know what I mean Miss Trepe?"

"I prefer my blood in bags if I'm honest." Quistis retorted. "Now answer Rinoa's question. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I don't think I like your tone." Gaston's face darkened just noticeably. "Let me enlighten you three. I have absolutely no obligation to explain myself to the likes of you. I answer only to my siblings."

"That's not good enough." Quistis growled. "You'll answer us otherwise we'll have to do unpleasant things to you. You might as well save yourself the pain and save us the bother."

"And suddenly I'm so painfully bored." Gaston said before snapping the top of the bottle off at the neck and hurling it, catching Quistis in the shoulder. She fell to the floor with a groan of pain while Gaston giggled. "Now look what you made me do."

"Is that seriously the best you can do?" Quistis growled, pulling the glass from her shoulder as she stood back up. "You should know that I takes more than that to take a vampire down."

"Now I think on it you've got a point." Gaston said, stepping onto the dance floor and facing the trio. "Maybe I should rip your heart out, or wrench your pretty little head off. Or maybe you'll stop playing hard to get and let me rape you to death?"

"If we were to let you it wouldn't qualify as rape." Selphie pointed out.

"You're very good with threats." Rinoa observed icily. "I'd quite like to see some action before we beat you into a bloody mess and drag you back to Garden and torture answers out of you."

"Do you seriously think that's going to happen?" Gaston sniggered as his face shifted into its demonic form. He bared his teeth at them. "You're dealing with forces beyond your comprehension."

"Maybe." Rinoa said, readying herself for the fight. "It's a hobby of mine. Touch us and I'll cut your head off."

"Yeah?" Gaston laughed sadistically. "You and whose army?"

"That would be me." A voice said. Gaston smiled and turned towards the owner of the voice before he took a right cross to the face. He skidded across the dance floor, through a partition and came to a halt at the base of a wall. He clambered to his feet to see Swift staring at him.

"Now it's a party." Gaston cackled as he walked slowly forwards. "It's been a while brother. No hug?"

"Why would I give you a hug when you take all that pesky hell-raising you're so fond of into account?" Swift grunted. "You seriously have to tone it down or you'll bring hell knows what down on the Obsidian family. This is not a reputation we need."

"Oh I'm sorry did I sully our good name?" Gaston scoffed. "We're vampires! Come on Swift, what's with the ingratitude?"

"Ingratitude?" Swift echoed. "You'll have to pardon my ignorance but what am I supposed to be grateful for?"

"How did you last this long being so retarded?" Gaston said before holding up a hand as Swift took an aggressive step forwards. "Simmer down, I'll tell you. It has come to my attention that the three lovely ladies in this room all have their hearts set on killing our brother Alexander. I think Balamb Garden should realise that messing with our family is bad for their health. My original plan was to kill Squall Leonhart, Dante Skyle and Seifer Almasy but they've gone walkabout so I think I'll kill the girls instead. Join me Swift. It'll be fun."

"You lay one hand on them and I'll make you sorry you were born." Swift growled ominously. "Now what are you doing here?"

"I've been here for a while." Gaston said cheerfully. "Watching, listening and so forth. I've even been inside Balamb Garden. Tell me Miss Trepe, you didn't happen to have a prisoner in your detention block that was turned into so much tomato puree did you?"

"You killed Renton?" Quistis gasped.

"Of course I did." Gaston said cheerfully. "I was the one that paid Major Marcus Foxton to attack Balamb Garden with mortars and light artillery to provide a useful distraction."

"So it's your fault all those SeeD's and cadets died?" Rinoa spoke up, sounding slightly sand bagged. "You vicious son of a bitch!"

"Please let's not get personal." Gaston tittered. "Go on Swift I sense you have a question so fire away."

"Why did you kill Renton?" Swift enquired. "I don't generally get attached to my armourers but I'm curious. Was it directed at me? Did you kill him in an effort to piss me off?"

"Contrary to your self–involved world view Swift, killing Renton had absolutely nothing to do with you." Gaston answered. "You see, spying on Balamb Garden tends to get a bit boring so I decided to wander into Balamb Garden and kill your precious armourer for no real reason other than the fact I was looking for some light entertainment."

"Figures." Swift sighed. "I sense that reasoning with you is not going to get the job done here."

"Correct Swift!" Gaston said applauding dryly. "So tell me, what are you doing to do about it?"

"This." Swift dashed forwards and threw a wide punch at Gaston. Gaston however had been expecting it and caught the inside of Swift's elbow, stopping the punch cold. Then he punched Swift in the chest. Caught unawares Swift stumbled backwards and collapsed onto his rear. Rinoa stepped forwards and began to bring her Sorceress powers to bear on Gaston but Swift leapt back to his feet. "Stand down Rinoa. Take Selphie and Quistis back to Garden. I'll take care of this."

"Coming on kind of strong aren't you brother?" Gaston sniggered as the girls left the club. "I know you like to think of yourself as the family disciplinarian but I'm done doing what you tell me."

"When did you do what I told you before?" Swift enquired. "You've always been a massive pain in the neck but now you really take the biscuit. Luckily I know that should the situation call for it I can knock the attitude out of you. I know it, and so do you."

"Well get on with it." Gaston sneered, the last of humour leaving his face. "Show me what you've got."

Swift obliged, haring forwards at top vampire speed. Gaston went to meet him and at the last minute turned his body so that his shoulder slammed into Swift's midriff, driving the wind out of him and lifting him bodily. Gaston slammed his brother onto the hard dance floor crossed to a table and picked up a half empty bottle of wine. He drained it and then smashed it against a speaker before coming towards Swift with murderous intent. Swift had not survived for as long as he had due to luck and as Gaston approached Swift pulled out his gun and shot Gaston four times in the chest. Gaston staggered backwards with a howl of agony and dropped the glass before collapsing onto the floor. Swift got back to his feet and honoured Gaston with the remaining two bullets before quickly reloading.

"Wooden bullets." He said conversationally. "People always underestimate their usefulness, even against us."

Gaston forced himself to his feet and with a roar of rage threw himself at Swift. He grabbed Swift's gun arm, fording the gun to point away with one hand while he punched Swift solidly in the side of the face with the other. Swift kneed Gaston in the guts, knocking him off and brought the gun around. Gaston lashed out as Swift fired and the bullet punched into the wall while the gun itself went skidding across the dance floor. Gaston threw another punch but Swift absorbed the blow and grabbing Gaston by his lapels tugged him forward and nutted him in the face. Gaston staggered backwards cursing but he recovered quickly to grab a half-finished glass of vodka and throw in in Swift's face. Swift swore loudly as the fiery liquid burned his eyes. Gaston leapt in and punched Swift twice in the guts, sending him staggering backwards. Swift managed to dodge Gaston's next attack by back flipping onto the bar. Gaston followed him up an attacked. The bothers danced along the bar trading punches and kicks that would kill a human or any regular vampire.

Swift eventually leapt off the bar and returned to the dance floor where he scooped up his gun again. Gaston jumped after him and Swift took aim. Before he could pull the trigger both of Gaston's feet impacted solidly with his chest. The gun flew out of Swift's hand and Gaston clasped both hands before swinging them up under Swift's chin in an uppercut that send Swift somersaulting backwards before he hit the ground hard enough to shake the dance floor. Gaston picked up the gun and opening the chamber, ejected the bullets. He kicked the empty gun towards Swift contemptuously.

"Those things are never useful." He lectured. "Now I see why Alexander wanted to stick you in an urn."

"He stuck you in an urn as well Gaston." Swift growled as he painfully pulled himself into a sitting position. "Or had you forgotten? He's taken from both of us, not to mention he's done things that are utterly unforgiveable. It's no secret Balamb Garden want him dead and after everything he's done I say let them try."

"He's our brother." Gaston pointed out petulantly. "Does that not count for anything?"

"Yes he's our brother but he still cheerfully stuck you, Alice and Adrian in some glorified jam jars." Swift pointed out before sighing. "I can see I'm not going to win this argument so I think I'll have to settle for winning the fight."

"Some threat, you can barely stand." Gaston observed bitingly.

"I don't need to stand." Swift spat out a mouthful of blood and smiled at Gaston whom he was satisfied to see was looking a little uneasy. "Tell me Gaston, did you ever consider that a man in my line of work might carry more than one gun." Like lightning Swift pulled out a second revolver. No chest shots this time. Before Gaston could react Swift planted six wooden bullets in his head. Gaston's eyes and mouth popped wide open, as if he couldn't quite believe what had happened. Then he fell over backwards with almost comical stiffness, out for the count. Swift smiled with satisfaction before pulling out his phone and calling Quistis.

"Swift?" Quistis exclaimed as she picked up. "Where the bloody hell are you? Are you okay?"

"It's nice to know you care Quistis." Swift grunted. "I'm still at the club. I'm a bit banged up but I think I'll live. I've suffered worse kicking's than the one I just took. Gaston's a good fighter but he wasn't demonstrating his usual adaptability. Before you even ask, I didn't kill him. He's right here but he isn't looking at all well."

"Good." Quistis said simply. "He instigated an attack that killed several Balamb Garden personnel so I hope you beat seven shades of shit out the bastard."

"Listen you need to get onto your quartermasters or suppliers pronto." Swift told her urgently. "Your detention block won't hold Gaston for any length of time. We're going to need a cage. A strong one. About ten by twelve feet, steel reinforced. Two inch bars. Make it three. Gaston knows something and I think we ought to find out what."

* * *

**Another one down. It just so happens that this Saturday coming is the very first birthday of Doomsday so I'd love a review or two to mark the occasion. Once again thanks go out to my current reviewers (all two of them) geelouxo and MissPhoenix18. Thank you both so, so much!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: Fisherman's Horizon**

Quistis stepped into the lecture theatre where the twelve successful applicants for the SeeD Field Exam were waiting for her. Seifer was sitting at the back of the room with his head bowed but as soon as Quistis entered he looked up and was instantly alert. Quistis quickly checked the list to make sure everyone was present before she stepped up to the podium at the front of the room and addressed them.

"Good morning." She said all business. "You're here because your scores in the written exam have convinced the powers that be that you are all capable of taking the field exam. If you perform well you will become a member of SeeD. Ordinarily you'd be divided into four teams of three members but today's exam will require the twelve of you to work together as one unit."

"Excuse me Commander but I'm guessing there will be an overall team leader." A blonde female cadet asked. "Who will that be?"

"I'm coming to that." Quistis said before touching a button. An image appeared on the projector screen. It was a mug shot of a man with short brown hair, grey eyes and a port wine stain on his left cheek. "This is our target, Vinch Marcus. He is an organized crime kingpin based in Fisherman's Horizon. Marcus has been on our radar for a while now. His currency is primarily guns, heroin and human beings but we have reason to believe he may be moving into the terrorism and information markets."

"So we need to locate this guy and deal with him." Seifer spoke up simply. "Do you want a clean kill or do you want to send a message?"

"If it was that easy we would have sent a sniper in." Quistis said. "We believe Marcus may have invaluable information that relates to a number of Balamb Garden's interests. We estimate he has at least fifty hired guns ready to protect him in the area. We have informed Mayor Dobe of what's going on. He wasn't happy about it but he's given us permission to deal with Marcus' men in any way we see fit. Marcus however comes back alive and that is non-negotiable."

"Spoil my fun." Seifer muttered under his breath before raising his voice. "So how are we going to pull this off?"

"We'll insert into Fisherman's via the Ragnarok." Quistis answered. "We do have open diplomatic relations with them so we're guessing that when Marcus notices the Ragnarok he won't be spooked. Our intelligence tells us he's been operating in the area since the end of the Second Sorceress War and he hasn't done a runner whenever we turned up in the last few years. Marcus owns a restaurant in the western part of the city, although we have reason to believe it's also a storehouse and possibly a brothel. It's well protected so you'll definitely have to go in hard and fast with explosive entry. Civilian casualties are unacceptable. Any questions?"

"The team leader?" One cadet asked.

"We've taken all your skills and specific talents into account in choosing the cadet best suited to the role." Quistis took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be pretty. "The team leader if Seifer Almasy." There was an outbreak of muttering at this and a few members of the group shot hostile looks at him. Seifer however didn't respond in the slightest, remaining slumped in his chair with his eye pointed at his shoes. This irritated Quistis so she decided to try and get a rise out of him. "Good luck Seifer."

"Commander, I still hate it when people wish me luck." Seifer lifted his head and allowed his green eyes to meet Quistis' blue. "Save those words for a bad student who needs them."

"Okay." Quistis chirped before turning serious once more. There is one more thing you should know about our target." Quistis touched a button and a familiar photograph appeared on the screen. "This man is believed to have a business relationship with our target. His name is Alexander Obsidian and he should be considered armed and dangerous at all times. If he is sighted do not confront him, but call it in immediately. That's all you really need to know, meet by the directory at 1500 hours." Quistis saluted her students before spinning around and heading out of the lecture theatre. Seifer exploded out of chis chair and sprinted after her.

"So we're going after someone who most likely supplies Alexander with weapons." He enquired belligerently. "Do I have to remind you what happened when we lifted Renton, and that was a large group of qualified SeeD members? Now you want to send in cadets for the same sort of thing?"

"I have faith in your ability to do the job." Quistis retorted. "As I'm sure you know we got the information on our target from Swift. I know you don't trust him but the way I see it we haven't got much of a choice. The way Swift tells it, Alexander's minions don't protect themselves as heavily as Renton did. Apparently they're deluding themselves that if they're ever apprehended by security forces Alexander will bust them right out again. Everything we've seen suggests that Alexander won't do that. He'll simply move on to another armourer. Swift however thinks that Marcus might know something. He's working on an ethos of "never try the back door before the front door"."

"Right," Seifer said uncertainly. "Do you want to try and pick the bones out of that?"

"As you may have heard Swift helped us capture and detain Gaston Obsidian while you were on the Island Closest to Hell." Quistis continued. "Swift admits that even he'll be hard put to drag information out of Gaston, so he's going to try and get the information out of Marcus instead. If Marcus doesn't know anything then he'll interrogate Gaston. If Marcus does know something, then we get the information for a discounted price if you will."

"Have you figured out how to tell Dante that you're going after someone who may have the information we need to mount a successful strike against his mortal enemy?" Seifer asked. "Come on Quistis, do you seriously think you'll be able to hide it from him forever. You and I both know he'll find out and more than likely invite himself along."

"I can control Dante." Quistis said, but she quickly realised that she sounded unconvincing so she changed tack at the speed of light. "I think I'll just let Swift keep him in line. Now if I were you I'd check out your Guardian Forces and magic."

"No offense but I prefer to use my head and my gun blade." Seifer told her. "I know you think that's not enough but this is my field exam and you've got to let me do things my way."

"Don't worry; I've given up trying to argue with you." Quistis rubbed the bridge of her nose with two fingers. "I have to ask you a question you won't like Seifer. Your track record in SeeD field exams does count against you so have you decided what you're going to do if you fail again."

"I'll leave." Seifer said simply. "Failing once is understandable, twice is bad luck, three times is going it a bit but failing a SeeD field exam four times? That'll just be irrevocable proof that I'm not meant to be a SeeD. I'll set up shop somewhere as a freelance mercenary. God knows I'd be good at it."

"Well maybe this time you'll follow the orders you're given to the letter." Quistis advised firmly. "That's why you failed the last time."

"Don't remind me." Seifer said darkly. "I was an idiot back then and I'd rather not go over it again. It's in the past and I don't like to think about it. Not only did Zell and Selphie beat me, so did Squall. I think that was a primary trigger for breaking out of Garden and racing off to Timber. I couldn't bear the thought of playing second fiddle to the guy. People were always unable to decide who was the better soldier, Squall or me. Then I failed the field exam and Squall passed. That probably made people's minds up so I figured if I headed off to Timber and forced Vinzer Deling to free Timber, people would never write me off as a washed up Squall Leonhart wannabe."

"Fair enough." Quistis said, surprised at Seifer's take on the whole thing. "Listen, I have some work to do so if I were you I'd head off and prepare for the field exam in the way that seems most appropriate to you."

"Are you going to wish me luck?" Seifer said as way of a parting shot before he spun on his heel and walked off.

"Good luck." Quistis whispered.

* * *

The Ragnarok circled once over Fisherman's Horizon and landed on a landing pad at one end of the harbour, built especially for this purpose. The ramp to the cargo hold opened, disgorging a dozen well-armed SeeD cadets. Despite the fact that they had orders to take Vinch Marcus alive their melee weapons were ready for killing and their firearms were loaded with armour piercing bullets. This was a high risk mission and if it was entirely bloodless it would be the biggest miracle of modern times. It took then less than fifteen minutes to make it to the target building. Seifer loosened the quick release on the Hyperion's sheath and crouched down, before starting to issue orders.

"You two," He said, selecting two members of his team. "I want you to go and grab the toughest vehicles you can find. Then put them across both ends of the street. I don't want this bastard escaping."

"Yes sir!" Both SeeD's leapt up and sprinted off to carry out his orders. Seifer was pleased. Quistis had to inform a few of the cadets that failure to follow Seifer's orders would result in an instant fail, not to mention disciplinary action. Seifer waited for the SeeD's to return before issuing his next orders,

"Street's blocked boss." One of the SeeD's said.

"Good job but don't think we've got him trapped." Seifer said. "The target building has multiple exits and we're too few to cover them all. Our best chance to grab our man is to attack from clock face positions. We'll also need to employ speed, surprise and overwhelming violence. Remember, everyone aside from our target is expendable. I'll warn you now; if this goes out of control it'll get very lively. In a few minutes we'll be up against real live targets and I'll expect nothing less than gratuitous violence from the lot of you. So, if Winnie the Pooh should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude I'd expect you to slot the bastard."

Ten minutes later, three cadets were gathered around each of the four exits. Seifer quickly loaded and cocked an AA-12 automatic shotgun and steeled himself before starting to psych himself up as he fitted a silencer onto the barrel. He tapped his radio and forced himself to speak calmly.

"Is everyone in position?" He asked, forcing his racing heartbeat to slow down as he did so. He nodded as the replies came back. He looked at the two cadets behind him and nodded. "Standby, standby, standby and…go!" Seifer immediately blasted away each of the hinges on the door before giving the lock the same treatment. Then Seifer smashed it open by shoulder charging it. The force of his charge carried him halfway across the reception before anyone knew what was happening. The receptionist and two guards didn't know quite what to make of the sudden appearance and Seifer wasted no time making sure they regretted it. While the two cadets grabbed the receptionist and beat him over the head with rubber coshes Seifer focused on the guards. He dropped the shotgun and yanked out the Hyperion, spitting one guard through the guts before Seifer finished him off by pulling the trigger. The second guard pulled out a handgun and aimed with remarkable speed. Seifer was quicker though and he went low before striking upwards, taking the man's gun arm off at the elbow. The man howled in agony before stopping abruptly as Seifer beheaded him with a single well placed blow. Seifer kicked the door to the main room open and closed on the nearest threat with ruthless speed.

Vinch Marcus had been caught unawares by the speed of the attack but he was always prepared for this eventuality. He'd dived beneath the table when the gun fire erupted in the kitchen and he grabbed an AK-47 assault rifle, complete with ACOG scope and under barrel shotgun ready to breakout. His inner circle of bodyguards were all selected from Special Forces groups and were all well-armed and confident in their ability to protect Marcus from whoever was coming after him. They didn't know that the attack was being led by the only person to fight Squall Leonhart to the death and walk away. As Seifer burst into the room, he tossed a flash bang grenade that landed on the table directly in front of Marcus. It detonated, and that was the signal for all bloody hell to break loose.

The whole room exploded in a storm of gun fire as the other three teams entered and started firing while moving to cover. In addition to all their primary weapons the cadets were all carrying compact machine guns or machine pistols. Seifer stabbed one man in the throat before kicking over a table to act as a firing barricade before yanking out his Glock 18 and slamming in a magazine. He peeked around the table and noticed one of Marcus bodyguards getting ready to throw a grenade. Killing him before he threw it would be an unacceptable risk to Marcus' safety but if he threw it he could end up killing some of Seifer's team. Seifer stood up and fired a burst a foot above the man's head. It caught his attention and he tossed the grenade at Seifer. In one movement Seifer dropped the man with a well-placed headshot, caught the grenade and threw it high in the air where it harmlessly went off. Then, in less than thirty seconds it was all over. Seifer leapt up from his hiding place and charged into a rapidly retreating Marcus, bowling him over. He pinned Marcus to the floor before honouring him with a right hander to the face. Marcus tried to struggle but Seifer was much larger, heavier and stronger. In less than fifteen seconds the crime kingpin was lying unconscious and bloodied on the floor.

"Hood!" Seifer rapped out and one of his team handed him a burlap sack. Seifer placed it over Marcus head and then directed to cadets to grab the unconscious body. Then they vacated the premises. Once they'd left, one of the bodyguards lifted his head. He'd taken four bullets in the stomach but still had enough life left in him to call a number on his phone and put one of the boss' "contingency plans" into effect.

* * *

When the cadets returned to the Ragnarok Quistis should've been waiting for them but she was nowhere to be seen. Seifer sighed and radioed to Quistis to open the cargo hold. All he got was static and one of the cadets cocked his head before crossing to a nearby gutter.

"What's wrong with this picture?" He said, holding up two items that made Seifer's blood run cold. One was a shattered SeeD issue radio, while the other was Quistis' chain whip. Seifer took the items and cursed under his breath. Quistis as a vampire would be extremely difficult to subdue and detain so whatever had happened, it was pretty serious. Seifer looked around for a clue and found it in one of the docks. A large white motorboat was moving out of the dock and making for open water at pretty considerable speed. As far as Seifer was concerned it was moving far too quickly to be innocent. What's more, the vessel was vaguely familiar to Seifer and he felt sure he'd seen it before. It took him several seconds until he recognised it from surveillance photos he'd seen just this morning. The boat belonged to Vinch Marcus. Seifer grabbed Marcus and yanked the sack off his head before reviving him by emptying a water bottle over his head. Then he marched him towards the edge of the dock.

"Where is that boat going?" He demanded shaking Marcus until his teeth rattled. "I swear to God I'll gut you right here if you don't tell me."

"It doesn't matter." Marcus sneered. "You capture me and we'll capture one of you. It sounds a lot like poetic justice to me. Don't you think I'd be prepared for being captured? You release me and you'll get your friend back." Seifer immediately put Marcus out with a swift rabbit punch to the forehead before bundling him to the floor and quickly relaying orders. "Secure this piece of shit and then get out of here and back to Garden. I'll catch you up."

"What are you going to do?" One of the cadets asked.

"I'm going to pick a fight." Seifer answered before wheeling around and dashing towards a beaten up motorcycle. He leapt on and gunned the engine, ignoring the owner's indignant shouts. Seifer spun the bike around and then accelerated across the docks. He was going about ninety miles an hour when the bike left the dock and shot out over the waves. It fell away from Seifer who stretched out his arms and grabbed hold of the rear of the boat. He pulled himself on board and took stock of the situation. It was a pretty large vessel, but with a simple layout. The central section rose nearly three stories and probably contained cabins, storerooms and the bridge. Seifer had no idea how many people were on board but he suspected there had to be at least thirty, and that all of them were probably armed with automatic weapons and explosives. They were probably pretty good at their jobs. After all they'd successfully abducted a vampire who had vast reserves of Blue Magic at her command to boot. Essentially Seifer needed a distraction.

Before he could implement said distraction however, he saw the door immediately in front of him begin to open. Seifer darted forwards and seizing the door slammed it against whoever was on the other side. Then he garbed the poor soul (who had been knocked unconscious) and heaved him overboard. Seifer decided to start with a distraction. He pulled of his jacket and shirt and started to rip the shirt into strips. Then he crossed to the large barrels of fuel and unscrewed the top before soaking the rags in petrol and leaving them sticking out of the barrels. Then he conjured a small fire spell and set light to the make shift cloth wicks. Then, keeping low, he moved to the starboard side. He'd gone maybe twenty metres when there was a thunderous boom. The entire ship shook and Seifer looked over ship shoulder to see a massive mushroom of fire and black smoke rise into the sky. There was a shout from overhead.

"See what is happening!" A voice commanded. "The rest of you be ready. We may have company!"

Seifer sighed before unsheathing the Hyperion and pulling a door open. There went the element of surprise. He'd have to resort to overwhelming violence once more. He found himself in a conference room that was empty. Seifer was just heading for the door at the other end when a side door opened and a burly man in a chef's hat emerged with a meat cleaver in his hairy fist. He and Seifer stared at each other for a few seconds before Seifer decided to act. He charged forwards and his right boot connected with the chef's midriff, knocking him backwards into the room he'd appeared from. Seifer followed to discover it was the galley. The chef swung at Seifer with the cleaver but Seifer disarmed him with a quick flick of the Hyperion, then stabbed him through the heart and pulled the trigger for good measure. Then he promptly dumped the pulverized carcass in a meat freezer. Seifer was about to return to the conference room when he heard two voices.

"It's no good." One man said. "Bitch is a SeeD. She's trained to resist interrogation. She won't break."

"Everyone breaks." A second voice said. "We'll get our information. We may also be able to get the boss back, just as long as Balamb Garden think she's still alive. They'll make the trade."

Seifer's blood boiled when he heard this and before he could stop himself he'd charged into the conference room with Hyperion at the ready. He kicked one man as hard as he could in the ribs before amputating the other man's arm and stabbing him through the chest. The other man recovered and pulled out a gun as he got to his feet. Seifer however had other ideas. He yanked the Hyperion free and decapitated both men with a single swing. Seifer crossed to the door and opened it finding himself in some sort of control room. He stabbed one man in the throat and fried another with a Flare spell.

"Knock, knock!" He said to the bewildered men before charging forwards, howling like a wolf for added effect. He quickly beheaded one man, before chopping one man's legs out from under him and then finishing him off by stomping his throat in. Seifer ducked a throwing knife and ran its owner through. Another man raised a sawn off shotgun but Seifer simply threw the Hyperion towards him, impaling him through the heart. Another man charged at Seifer, knife held high. Seifer grabbed his knife arm and twisted, forcing his assailant to torque one hundred and eight degrees. He quickly snapped the man's neck and finished off the final man by throwing his friends knife at him. Seifer retrieved the Hyperion and headed up a staircase to find himself in the bridge. Seifer announced his presence by popping the pin on a flash bang grenade before retreating and waiting for the explosion. When it came he charged into the bridge and shoulder blocked one man. The man was then hurled bodily through a window and overboard while Seifer dispensed with his fellows.

Half a dozen men howled _en masse _and raising weapons charged at Seifer who met them head on. Seifer deflected a fire axe and thrust out, skewering one man. He dropped, hindering his comrades. Seifer capitalized on this and ducked under a sword blow before deflecting the axe again. He sliced a second man's throat wide open and sliced a third in two from the crotch upwards. Seifer pressed forwards, killing a fourth man by smashing his elbow into the man's throat, crushing his windpipe. The last two didn't suffer much better treatment. One was immolated by a Fire spell while Seifer thrust the Hyperion into the last man's mouth and pulled the trigger, splattering nearly everything with chips of bone and chunks of brain.

"Hold it!" A voice yelled and Seifer spun around to see a man wearing a captain's insignia aiming a pump action shotgun at him. Seifer lowered the Hyperion.

"I'll have you know I'm currently junctioned to two Guardian Forces." Seifer informed the man frostily. "Diablos and Pandemona if you're interested. That won't kill me."

"It'll hurt." The captain replied with a sadistic smile. "That part's fun."

Seifer sighed and opted to try his luck with a manoeuvre Dante had taught him in Screamer Mountain. He kicked out forcing the shotgun upwards to point under the man's chin. This had the result of making the man pull the trigger, blasting his head into oblivion. Seifer wrinkled his nose at the enormous blood splatter on the wall and moved on into a well-furnished stateroom. Before he could do anything something his him extremely hard, knocking him to the floor. The Hyperion flew out of his hand and he rolled over to see a muscular man dressed in a bandana, string vest and filthy jeans standing over him brandishing a wicked looking curved knife. Seifer rolled away and sprang back to his feet before preparing to face off an armed man with his bare hands.

"I'd say you've done enough." The man replied. "I'm a step up from these other schmucks, you won't beat me."

"We don't have to find out." Seifer grunted. "Just return the girl to me and I'll be on my way. Fail and I will have to kill you."

The man lunged forwards knife at the ready but Seifer reacted quickly. He went to meet his opponent and seizing the man's knife arm popped him on the chin with a nasty punch. The man staggered back but recovered quickly and came right back to the attack, charging into Seifer. They both hit the floor hard with the man on top. He raised his knife but Seifer spat upwards getting his opponent square in the left eye. The man jerked back instinctively and Seifer lashed out upwards, the heel of his hand smashing into the man's chin and sending his head whipping back with a loud crack as the vertebrae in his neck impacted. Seifer pushed the man off before grabbing his head, wrenching back further and then slit his throat with his own knife. Seifer retrieved the Hyperion and grabbed an MP5 from a table top. He checked the magazine before striding over to a door and kicking it open.

"Seifer!" Quistis exclaimed. Her hands were chained behind her and she was in the clutches of a corpulent middle aged man who had the barrel of a pistol pressed to the side of her head. Seifer ignored Quistis, his eyes boring into the other mans. He raised the MP5 and cocked it menacingly.

"We can negotiate…" The man said before Seifer pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession. Putting a double tap through someone mouth was a textbook method for taking someone down as it blew out the back of the brain and stopped a message getting to the trigger finger. The man dropped to the ground, gurgling and Seifer crossed to him, kicked him gun aside and finished him with a quick and clinical three round burst to the head. Then he turned to Quistis.

"Are you okay?" He said before noticing the chains. "Here, hold your arms as far apart as possible." Quistis complied and Seifer swung the Hyperion in an arc, severing the chains with a loud metallic crunch. Before he could go any further Quistis threw her arms around him. It was a gesture of gratitude she immediately regretted seeing as Seifer was covered from head to foot in gore.

"Seifer what happened?" Quistis exclaimed as they headed for the bridge. "I heard an explosion."

"That was me." Seifer stated calmly. "I set the fuel on fire. I hoped it might sink the boat."

"But we're on the boat." Quistis pointed out.

"I know." Seifer said simply. "Now where's the radio. I think I need to try and raise the Ragnarok. Oh and in case you're wondering, we got Marcus. I think that's a primary reason they grabbed you." Seifer proceeded to send out a transmission on the Ragnarok frequency. "Ragnarok this is Seifer Almasy over. Do you read me Ragnarok, over?"

"Loud and clear Seifer!" Selphie voice replied, sounding as usual unreasonably cheerful. "Where are you? Is Quistis alright?"

"I'm on a boat about ten miles out." Seifer replied. "Quistis is with me and she's fine. I don't think I've killed everyone on board so we need and emergency evacuation and then it would be handy if you sank the boat for good measure."

"Wilco Seifer!" Selphie cheered. "You're a shoe-in for SeeD-ship after this. I'm on my way. Ragnarok out!"

* * *

**I was dreading this chapter but I'm ecstatic I got it done. The next one is going to be a lot of fun, I'll tell you that for free. Without giving too much away, guess who's back! Once more, thanks go out to my readers and my reviewer's geelouxo and MissPhoenix18. Thanks so much!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen: Graduation**

Ever since he'd returned from the Island Closest to Hell with Dante, Seifer and Zell Squall had not been idle. He'd left the tricky task of luring Alexander to Balamb Garden to Swift but he was involved in everything else. The first thing he'd done was to select a round dozen of the best close combat fighters in Garden, excluding his friends of course. Dante had made a lot of noise about bringing Rinoa in but Squall had flatly refused as he suspected Rinoa wasn't quite ready to deal with him and Squall didn't want Alexander tearing her a few new holes.

"So have you decided exactly how you're going to kill Alexander?" Dante enquired as he sat down facing Squall in the canteen.

"I'm going to chop his grinning head off." Squall replied shortly, fingering the hilt of his gun blade. "If that doesn't work, I may have to improvise. I never thought I'd say this but we could use Mika's help. After all he killed Alexander's brother and an Old One using my face."

"He wouldn't be much help." Dante grunted. "Mika was a vampire who could rip most people apart before breakfast but now he's a healthy, well-adjusted human who doesn't have the slightest idea what the world is really like. He's going to stay blissfully ignorant as far as I'm concerned. I want him as far away from all this as possible and that's where he's going to stay, end of story."

"I guess we'll have to work with what we've got." Squall sighed. "Have you got any idea exactly how Swift will lure Alexander here?"

"I know as much as you do on that front." Dante said, lighting a cigarette and inhaling smoke contentedly. "As ancient vampires go Swift is a trustworthy and honourable individual. He respects the bond of blood but that only goes so deep when you're related to vampires. Alexander knows all of Swift's good qualities so the fact that Swift is luring him into a death trap will never cross his mind, so we should be able to get the jump on him."

"Once Alexander's dead, you'll go after Swift won't you?" Squall guessed shrewdly, eyeing Dante uneasily.

"He helped ruin my life." Dante growled darkly. "What he's doing, helping us put Alexander down doesn't change anything between us. He messed with me and he has to live with the consequences. Hopefully, he won't have to live with them for too long."

"You've been after these guys for a long time." Squall pointed out. "They're still alive. Doesn't that say something to you?"

"Damn right it does." Dante returned. "It says that they're the luckiest bastards on the face of the Earth. For other people it might say something like they're impossible to kill, but I don't believe that. I always find a way. I'm the thing monsters like them have nightmares about and sooner or later I'm going to show them why. You forget Squall, I've gone up against all five of them and I'm still standing. Even better, in my pocket I happen to have a trump card."

"Meaning?" Squall demanded, his interest piqued.

"While I was away looking for my mortal enemies I came across a fellow who deals in some interesting curios." Dante pulled out a tiny glass bottle filled with an inky black substance and placed it on the table between them. "He sold me this. A highly concentrated dose of Turok-Han venom."

"Come again?" Squall looked nonplussed. "You're going to have to break that down for me."

"Okay pin your ears back and listen." Dante grunted. "As Neanderthals are to human beings the Turok-Han are to vampires. Primordial, ferociously powerful killing machines; as single minded as animals. They are the vampires that vampires fear. An ancient and entirely different race. Some people think of them as myth but if you know where to look you'll find out that they're as real as you and me. Or they were."

"What are you saying?" Squall asked.

"The Turok-Han were around in the time of the Old Ones but like most things they eventually went extinct. They did however leave their remains behind." Dante indicated the bottle. "Usually, in order to turn a human into a vampire you have to exchange blood in a whole big sucking thing. The Turok-Han however secreted this venom through their claws and teeth. You'd be fine for a time afterwards but you'd eventually go through an incredibly painful transformation and come out the other end as one of them. I suspect this might be the key to killing Swift and Alexander."

"Are you not worried about the painful transformation?" Squall asked. "What if you can't take it?"

"I've suffered worse believe me." Dante shrugged. "Once the transformation starts there's no stopping it. You get through it or you die. It's that simple. If I was a human maybe I'd have cause to be worried but I'm a vampire. Superior durability and so forth. I can take it."

"Sorry but I'm not convinced." Squall kneaded his forehead. "When are you considering doing this?"

"Well not before we try to kill Alexander." Dante said, pocketing the bottle again. "No sense in putting myself through that sort of pain if I don't need to, but, if for whatever reason we fail, I think we might need some prehistoric vampire muscle don't you?" Dante looked up to see the Ragnarok scream by overhead. "Seifer's back. A tenner says he passed."

* * *

Seifer unlocked his dorm door and strode in before dumping his gun blade and machine pistol on the desk before crashing out on his bed. He'd done everything he could now and all he could do was wait. The fact that his future was now in the hands of Cid, Quistis and Xu was not a comforting thought. Seifer knew that Xu would probably be pushing to fail him for going out of bounds, even if it was to save Quistis' life. SeeD membership was only awarded if each of the three people on the panel decided that the cadet in question had passed. Simply put, Cid and Quistis' support counted for nothing. Seifer pulled out a bottle of single malt whisky from his bedside chest of drawers and unscrewed the top before pouring a glass. Before he could take a drink there was a knock on the door. Seifer crossed to it and opened it.

"Well, well," He drawled when he saw who his visitor was. "Look who it isn't."

"Hi," Zell said, watching Seifer guardedly. Even with everything that had happened there was still that mutual dislike just beneath the surface. All credit to the brawler, he was working hard to hide it. "Can I come in?"

"Make yourself at home." Seifer bit off before returning to the bed and taking a mouthful of whisky. "What can I do for you, instructor?" Seifer couldn't resist placing a lot of sarcastic emphasis on the last word.

"I want to talk to you." Zell said evenly. "Quistis and Selphie told me what you did in FH. You do know jumping onto that boat and killing all those guys could be called going out of bounds and would probably result in you failing. Killing civilians isn't out of the question either, and you would definitely fail and end up expelled to boot."

"I'm sure you and Xu are loving every moment of this." Seifer growled, fixing Zell with a glare that would have nearly anyone else running as fast as they could in the opposite direction.

"I can't say one way or the other for Xu, because I haven't talked to her." Zell said before deciding to deploy his master stroke. "What you did out there in my mind constitutes nothing less than…"

"Expulsion?" Seifer guessed.

"I was actually thinking you should receive a place in SeeD Special Forces, a medal and quite a hefty cash bonus if I'm being honest." Zell said evenly. "What you did went above and beyond the call of duty. You jumped into a dangerous situation to save Quistis' life without a single thought for your own personal safety. You might want to grab a camera because you'll never hear me say this again. I'm very proud to say that I know Seifer Almasy."

"Are you feeling alright?" Seifer asked, trying (and failing quite miserably) to process the turn his stormy relationship with the martial artist had taken.

"Thanks to you one of my best friends is not having the living hell tortured out of her." Zell said. "Xu has always made it perfectly clear that she believes you have no place in SeeD and if she doesn't use the fact that you went out of bounds and killed civilians to kick you out I'll do the bloody backstroke in the Fire Cavern. Furthermore, if she does that she'll have Selphie, Rinoa and I to answer to. I guess Irvine would be with us and so would Dante. As far as I'm concerned, you deserve to become a SeeD and I will make sure you manage it if it's the last thing I ever do."

"This is really beginning to creep me out." Seifer said before jerking a thumb at his chest of drawers. "Drink?"

"I'd better not." Zell grunted. "There's a graduation ball on tonight and I plan to drink the bar dry, eat my own body weight and party until I fall flat on my face." Zell waved jauntily before departing. "See you around."

"You're a classy guy," A small smile warped Seifer's lips. "Chicken-wuss."

Seifer wasn't about to admit it but Zell's endorsement had lifted quite a considerable weight off his shoulders. He chuckled as he imagined Xu's face when she heard that failing Seifer would probably incite a riot, if not a full scale revolution. Seifer shook his head and poured himself a second glass. He was just raising it to his lips when a cheery bing-bong sounded and an announcement came over the intercom.

"Could cadet Almasy please report to the Headmaster office." The politely synthesised voice said. "All other cadets whom participated in today's field exam, report to the second floor corridor."

Seifer immediately swallowed his whisky in a single mouthful and stood up. It looked like the Headmaster, probably with Quistis and Xu in tow wanted to see him alone. That didn't bode well. Seifer opened his door and stormed off towards the lift shaft, cursing fluently under his breath as he wondered what the "Three Wise Monkeys" as Dante had cheerfully dubbed them wanted. If he was going to be passed or failed he would just have to wait with the other members of his team. Maybe Seifer was paranoid but this wasn't looking good. Seifer took the lift up to the third floor and knocked on the Headmasters door.

"Come!" Cid's voice called and Seifer walked in, trying his best to look respectful although his temper was bubbling ominously beneath the surface. Cid was obviously present and so were both Xu and Quistis. Usually Seifer would be able to work out what Cid was thinking, and have a good guess at Quistis but today he couldn't read anything in any of the three stony faces in front of him.

"Seifer," Cid said, handing Seifer four files. "These are the four cadets under you command today that we've decided deserve a place in SeeD. Do you agree with our choices and is there anyone else you think deserves a place?"

"They're all good choices." Seifer said after checking the files over. "Everyone did their jobs well but in my opinion these four were the stand outs. Without wishing to sound critical, the others didn't quite measure up."

"Thank you Seifer." Cid nodded before setting the file aside and observing Seifer over steeped fingers. "We do have to discuss your course of action when Quistis was kidnapped."

"Okay." Seifer said, chancing a glance at Xu and Quistis who were both still smoothly inscrutable.

"Oh Seifer, what am I going to do with you?" Cid sighed theatrically. "Once again you've disobeyed orders. You went out of bounds and killed a large number of civilians. That constitutes an automatic fail, expulsion and possible criminal charges. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I did go out of bounds, I hold my hands up." Seifer said. "However, I did not kill any civilians. The machine gun toting lunatics who abducted Quistis were quite obviously on the payroll of Vinch Marcus. I think they were looking to torture her for information and maybe try to force an exchange. I had to make a tactical decision based on what little information I had at the time. With hindsight it looked like it worked out okay, but that said, if I could go back in time…oh who am I kidding? I'd do it all again, exactly the same."

"And look where that mentality has gotten you." Xu snapped. "I told you he wouldn't try for remorse Headmaster. Request permission to fill out the expulsion paperwork."

"Tell me something Xu," Seifer barked, exploding out his chair. "If you were in that situation what would you have done? Would you have moved heaven and earth to save someone or would you have waited for backup and gone through all the "necessary diplomatic channels" therefore dooming the captive to torture and death? What is your problem Xu? Is it that my methods are never as good as yours, or is it that they just might be better?"

"Your methods attract far too much attention!" Xu raged, eyeballing an equally furious Seifer.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but SeeD still takes part in direct action!" Seifer roared, blowing his stack in monumental fashion. "Have you even considered that could be my area of expertise?"

"There is more to mercenary work than hitting monsters and people with a gun blade until they stop moving!" Xu shouted before forcing her temper under control. "You crossed a line back there and that's why there is no way I'm letting you become a SeeD?"

"Have you told Zell, Selphie and Rinoa that?" Seifer enquired, smiling his most satanic smile. "Then there's dear old Dante who is probably the last person in this building I'd want to argue with."

"I'm not scared of him." Xu said, although Seifer was satisfied to see her complexion grow noticeably paler.

"Sit down both of you, and we'll pretend that didn't just happen." Cid said, glaring at Seifer and Xu. "That was very unprofessional. Personally I think there's a lot to be said for Xu's point of view." He held up a hand to silence Seifer who let out a vehement exclamation. "That said, what Seifer did was possibly one to the bravest and most selfless acts in Balamb Garden's history. Seifer, your course of action was above and beyond the call of duty and given your track record that's pretty remarkable. So, that leaves us in a quandary. Ordinarily, Quistis, Xu and I would all have to agree for you to become a SeeD member."

"That'll happen when hell freezes over by the looks of things." Seifer growled, shooting a look of deepest loathing at Xu.

"You should be so lucky." Xu replied waspishly.

"Given what happened today I think we can bend the rules a little." Cid announced, shooting Xu a warning look. "Xu clearly thinks there is no place for Seifer in SeeD and in all fairness she has a point. I disagree. I think Seifer deserves a place in SeeD. Not only did he pull off a high risk snatch operation without a single fatality he showed exceptional bravery and selflessness. If those are not mandatory qualities for a SeeD then I don't know what are. I've decided that in order for Seifer to become a SeeD we need a two to one majority vote. I'm sorry to put you on the spot Quistis, but you have the casting vote."

"Seifer pulled off the mission without a hitch." Quistis said. "Ordinarily he'd be in SeeD in a heartbeat but he did go out of bounds and create an almighty bloodbath. That said, he did save my life. My head is telling me to go with Xu, while my gut is telling me to go with Cid. I've made my decision." Quistis lapsed into silence.

"Yes?" Xu prompted.

"I agree, and I cannot believe the words are coming out of my mouth, with Cid." Quistis announced finally, and getting a little guilty satisfaction from the priceless expression on Xu's face. "Congratulations Seifer, you're a SeeD now."

Seifer had no idea what was going on in Quistis' head at the best of times, but the last four words hit him like a runaway freight train. He'd finally done it. All those years ago, when he'd first picked up the Hyperion in order to train as a SeeD, he had no idea that it would happen like this, especially after saving the life of whom he'd once considered one of the most annoying people on the face of the planet. Seifer looked up at Cid who was smiling in satisfaction. Xu, unsurprisingly was looking as if she was being force fed poison but Quistis was wearing a smile far bigger than Cid's. Seifer knew then that Quistis had passed him for herself as much as for him. He'd always been the biggest blemish on Quistis' record and a primary reason she'd had a much tougher time then she deserved at Garden. Seifer met her eyes and smiled before he felt a prickling. He stood up abruptly, blinked away unshed tears and snapped to attention. He threw a salute for good measure.

"Dismissed, SeeD Almasy." Cid said as he Quistis and Xu all stood up and threw salutes as well. "Congratulations Seifer. I guess no one can question your perseverance ever again."

Seifer didn't reply, instead he spun around and marched out of the office where he came face to face with Squall who read the satisfied look on Seifer's face instantly and correctly. The two rivals simply faced each other for a handful of seconds. The silence stretched and it was Squall who finally broke it.

"I heard what happened in Fisherman's Horizon." Squall said. "I have to admit I was impressed. I didn't think you had it in you."

"I just did what anyone else would do." Seifer shrugged as if it was of throwaway importance. "If I hadn't done it someone else would have."

"Modesty," Squall chuckled. "Will wonders never cease? I take it by the look on your face and the spring in your step that Cid and Quistis overruled Xu. Congratulations. If I were you I'd head off and find Dante. You've finally achieved a long held goal. You'll need someone to jump up and down with. I remember when I passed the field exam I was ecstatic."

"I could tell." Seifer said sarcastically. "You were walking on sunshine."

* * *

Swift sat down next to Dante in the Training Centre with their backs against a palm tree. Dante's AK-47 was resting next to him and he was idly flipping a butterfly knife open and closed with the practised ease of someone who'd done it many times before. He didn't even spare the other man a look.

"Is it that time already?" Dante asked monotonously.

"Correct." Swift said as he pulled a phone from his pocket and hit the first number on the speed dial. "Don't worry, I'll put it on speaker."

"Ah Swift," Alexander's familiar voice cooed as he picked up. "It's good to hear from you. I'm hoping you're well."

"Oh I'm peachy but I do have a problem you might want to help me with." Swift said brightly. "I'm currently in Balamb. I thought I might keep an eye on Balamb Garden and make sure they're not cooking anything up involving us. So there I am in my hotel room when someone lobs a brick through the window. Attached to the aforementioned brick was a message."

"Dare I ask what this message was?" Alexander enquired lightly.

"Well it transpires that Squall Leonhart is on the war path and big time." Swift smiled at Dante. "He's really not fond of you. The message was disturbing to say the very least. Somehow, and don't ask me how Squall managed to capture our sister. He's threatening to kill Alice unless you turn yourself over to him."

"What?" Alexander yelped. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm afraid not." Swift sighed theatrically. "I don't think it's going to be easy to rescue her. I already tried and it wasn't a success. I think I'm going to need your help with this one. I left a message with Gaston but I'm not hopeful. I think we need to break out a little brotherly team work, what say you?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Alexander raged. "Squall can try to kill me all he wants but if he's stupid enough to fuck with my family, particularly my baby sister then he's in for a world of pain. I've had enough of people trying to kill me. I think it's high time I make an example of someone and who better than the almighty Hero with No Fear Squall Leonhart. I'll meet you in the Balamb Bar and Grill at midnight tonight. This will not go unanswered."

"You're too damn right brother." Swift said, summoning up all his dramatic ability. "I think it's high time we gave the Hero with No Fear something to fear."

"One question Swift?" Alexander enquired, trying to sound nonchalant although his voice was audibly trembling with badly concealed rage. "Would I be correct if I was saying that Dante Skyle is in this up to his neck?"

"I can't say for sure but he does have an unswerving ability to turn up in times like these." Swift shrugged. "I wouldn't surprise me. Why?"

"Well if we do happen to come across him, I think you deserve a little something for calling me in instead of your usual "if at first you don't succeed, try again" method." Alexander said. "Dante's yours. I won't lay a hand on him. You can deal with him in any way you deem appropriate." There was a click and the line went dead.

"He bought it." Swift said with an evidently pleased grin. "Definitely. Hook, line and sinker."

"That's it then." Dante bared his teeth bloodthirstily. "Tonight, we kill Alexander Obsidian, once and for all. To be honest I wasn't entirely convinced he'd fall for it."

"Alice is his sister." Swift grunted. "In spite of everything he'd done she still loves him and it's the same way for him. It's a pity that in killing him we'll undo that because it's by far the best thing about him. I wouldn't expect you to understand Dante. You're an only child. You wouldn't understand a sibling bond."

"You'd be surprised what I can understand these days." Dante said, smiling sadly as Mika's face bloomed in his mind's eye. "Believe me on that."

* * *

Strictly speaking, at formal functions like the graduation ball SeeD's were required to wear their uniforms. This was still common practice among the men but the women much preferred to get all dressed up. In fact, the only functions you'd see a female SeeD wearing her uniform at would most likely be a funeral. Rinoa, Quistis and Selphie were no exceptions and they'd all decided to go all out, as this was the first time when they'd all been single, even if Quistis and Rinoa knew full well that nothing would come of Selphie's insistence that they should "play the field".

Rinoa had decided to dress in a strapless black ball gown. The bodice hugged her figure well and it was decorated with sequins flowing down the skirt in rippling waves. The dress was completed by a lace up back and an opulent ribbon falling down her back, nearly touching the ground.

Selphie's strapless dress was a vibrant shade of pink with a lace up back like Rinoa's and a scalloped sash accenting the bust. The dress was about the third the cost of Rinoa's but the effect was nevertheless stunning. Selphie was also wearing an understated silver tiara that set off her green eyes.

Quistis was wearing a pale lavender evening dress that elongated her figure. It had halter style straps and a plunging v-neck line. The dress hugged Quistis' figure tightly but in spite of this it was relatively easy to move in, which was handy because whenever dancing was likely Quistis' inhibitions were a lot looser than usual.

"We're going to have so much fun tonight!" Selphie squealed as the three girls made their way to the ball room.

"Of course we will." Rinoa concurred. "Mind you, you could smash in all my toes with a sledgehammer and this would still qualify as more fun than my own graduation ball. That was when Squall went careering off the rails."

Speaking of which I believe Squall is coming tonight." Quistis said, watching Rinoa for a reaction. "So whatever happens please try not to kick off. I've had enough mayhem in the last couple of days I really don't need anymore."

"So that's settled." Selphie proclaimed before a mischievous smile spread across her face like oil on water. "We ignore Squall, even if he does the can-can in front of us stark naked and focus on getting Quistis and Seifer to resolve all their sexual tension."

"_Selphie!" _Quistis hissed in an undertone, while the diminutive brunette howled with laughter.

"I think Selphie's got a point actually." Rinoa said evenly. "Look what happened back in Fisherman's Horizon. Seifer risked life and limb, not to mention a perfectly executed field exam to save your life Quistis. I'm not saying you should jump his bones straightaway but how about you have a few drinks with him, maybe a dance and see where the evening takes you. Seriously Quistis, what have you got to lose? Not to mention all the mutual hatred is a perfect breeding ground for more intimate feelings if you get my drift."

"I don't hate Seifer and I don't think he hates me either." Quistis said in a long suffering tone of voice. "That said, I don't think anything will ever happen between Seifer and I. There's too much bad blood there."

"Poppycock!" Selphie exclaimed. "The real question that needs answering is this. Do you want something to happen with Seifer?"

"Of course she does. She just hasn't realised it yet." All three girls turned around to see Dante standing behind them. He was wearing a black suit jacket, black jeans and boots and a white open necked shirt. "You all look beautiful by the way."

"Dante whether or not I want something to happen with Seifer is irrelevant." Quistis said with a sigh of exasperation. "What we want doesn't come into it. We both know it's a bad idea and we don't want to take it any further. It would end badly and we both know it."

"Oh no you don't." Dante chuckled his eyes mercilessly taunting Quistis. "I agree that it _might _end badly but I can tell you this. No one's told Seifer. Look Quistis, if our little dalliances have taught me anything it's that you like a bad boy. Thanks to his stint as a Sorceress' brainwashed cabana boy Seifer has the credentials. I'm with Selphie and Rinoa on this one. Go talk to Seifer, congratulate him and I bet he'll take it from there."

"You can't argue with that." Selphie observed as Dante swaggered off towards the bar, looking immensely pleased with himself.

"Oh yes I can." Quistis muttered, though it was with little conviction, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by her friends.

In a secluded corner of the ball room Squall and Swift were going over the finer details of their plan to dispose of Alexander.

"We're going to need somewhere secluded and remote to do the actual deed." Swift stated simply. "We can't really off him in the middle of Balamb and then tote his carcass in front of God knows how many witnesses. For one thing I'm looking to minimise collateral damage. Summing up, we need somewhere where your handpicked group of SeeD's can get to quickly, but somewhere where there is a bare minimum of possibilities for people getting caught in the crossfire."

"I'm way ahead of you." Squall said. "They're already hiding out up by the cemetery overlooking the ocean. That's where we'll do it."

"I don't think I have to tell you that a dozen SeeD's against one ancient vampire isn't a fair contest." Swift said. "This is a dangerous move and unless you've got something up your sleeve I'd say our chances are fifty-fifty at best. You do have a plan right?"

"He isn't just going to have twelve SeeD's to deal with." Squall explained. "Dante and I are going to join in and as long as we can deliver him to the brink of death you can jump in and finish the job. When you're up there, don't show any hostile intent towards him, no matter what happens. Wait until Dante and I turn up. All you have to do is get him up there and finish him off."

"Very well." Swift nodded before standing up. "I have to go. Alexander's train is getting in pretty soon and I'm prepared to bet he'll eat the conductor if I'm not there to distract him. Good luck Squall." Swift stood up and headed out of the ball room.

The night started to wear on and Dante had so far spent the entire night at the bar, pointedly ignoring the numerous female cadets and SeeD's that were shooting hopeful looks at him. Dante was mindful of the fact that very soon he'd be facing down his mortal enemy once again and he wasn't ashamed to admit that he was quite frankly crapping himself. He'd decided the best way to handle it was to get drunk but as a vampire it wasn't easy. He was sitting at the bar, staring murderously into a glass of bourbon when a voice spoke up next to him.

"Drinking alone?" Selphie observed as she slid into the seat next him. "That's never a good sign."

"So they tell me." Dante concurred, deciding the best policy was to humour her. "If I buy you a drink, neither of us has that problem any more."

"Vodka tonic." Selphie said before leaning forwards and observing Dante closely. "I came over here because you were looking like you were in the mood to do some damage. You look pissed off and I thought I might let you know that my offer still stands. If you need anyone to talk to about anything then look no further. If I had a lighter, this would be the part where I'd flick it in your face, ask you if you had a rough day and if you wanted to talk about it?"

"Look Selphie, it's nothing personal but I don't really t ant to talk about what's on my mind this fine night." Dante grunted. "My heads a bit buggered up right now and it's not up to spinning a lie. Also, it's better for both of us if I don't tell the truth. So thanks, but no thanks."

"Hey, I'm not going to push." Selphie assured him as she sipped her drink. "Personally, I think it helps to talk about your problems but I also think that forcing you to do so would do considerably more harm than good."

"Thanks for not prying." Dante said. "There are certain people around here that wouldn't leave me alone until I confessed what was on my mind. I'm also willing to bet that if I did tell them they'd very quickly wish I hadn't so believe me, it's better for you if I keep quiet. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologise." Selphie told him. "Whatever's going on in your noggin is your business and if you want to keep it under wraps other people should take the hint and let it go. If I'm honest I don't see many people around here attempting it but every so often you'll find someone who respects your wishes."

"Like you." Dante observed. "Is there anything rattling about in your pretty little head that you want to talk about?"

"Nothing you want to hear about." Selphie said before draining the last of her glass and smiling at him. "Come on Mr Skyle, let's dance."

"You have got to be joking." Dante said vehemently. "There is no way in hell that these feet are touching that dance floor."

"Oh Dante where is your party spirit?" Selphie said, deciding to put on the pout that had always ensured Irvine couldn't refuse her anything. Dante however, somewhat predictably stood immune.

"Dearly departed." Dante said before noticing that Selphie had left her seat and was moving to the beat in a pretty transparent attempt to soften his resolve. "Look Selphie, you can gyrate all you want but I'll be damned if I go anywhere near that dance floor with you."

"Then you're damned." Selphie sad before seizing both of Dante's wrists and all but hauling him out of his chair. Before Dante could react Selphie had dragged him out onto the floor. She took one of his hands in her own and placed the other on her waist before resting her free hand on his shoulder in the classic waltz stance. As a slow piece of music started playing Dante reluctantly put on what he hoped was a competent performance albeit with a face like utter thunder.

"Why me?" Dante grumbled as he guided Selphie across the floor. "Why are these terrible things always happening to me?"

"Give it up Dante, the whole self pity thing does nothing for you." Selphie advised seriously before she smiled in a way that could only be described as flirtatious. "Besides, you're quite good on your feet."

"I'm even better off my feet." Dante grinned wickedly in spite of himself. "Ask Quistis and Rinoa."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Selphie tried to sound severe but the funny little smile playing across her lips more or less gave her away. "What possessed those two to sleep with you anyway?"

"My devilish good looks, not to mention my charm, my sophistication and my unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift spring to mind." Dante grinned. "I can relate to that song about never ever getting back together." A beat. "Like ever."

"You're unbelievable." Selphie said, though her voice was strangled by what Dante was pretty certain was suppressed laughter. "Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Funny you should ask, they have." Dante nodded. "The word "unbelievable" is usually followed by the words "in" and "bed", usually in that order."

* * *

In spite of his latest exploits, most people in Garden were giving Seifer a wide berth which suited the blonde fine. He simply decided to let the party pass him by while he adopted what he called the "Squall Leonhart" method; supporting the wall and hitting the bottle. There was however one person in Balamb Garden who wouldn't leave him alone no matter what he did. Seifer was trying to bore a hole in the floor with his gaze when Cid approached him and cleared his throat to get Seifer's attention. Seifer raised his head to meet the Headmasters eyes.

"I'm glad you finally got it together Seifer." Cid said as he relieved a passing waitress of a glass of champagne. "I stand by what I said all those years ago. You'll make an excellent SeeD operative. Maybe you're not as disciplined or controlled as a certain other gun blade user but that doesn't mean you're not useful. In fact I'm pretty convinced it means the opposite. SeeD frequently have to deal with people that only understand violence, the more extreme the better."

"Thank you sir." Seifer said, unsure of quite how to respond. After all, it hadn't been so long ago he'd considered being in this situation an impossibility. "I hope the authorities in Fisherman's Horizon didn't give you too much grief about those guys on the boat."

"I don't think they'll be offering you a beachfront villa anytime soon." Cid nodded. "The

Mayor kicked up an almighty shit storm and he wanted you brought to account. He conveniently forgot that he gave us the go ahead for the snatch operation in the first place. I eventually calmed him down by pointing out that kidnapping Quistis made those bastards legitimate targets. Then I told him there was no charge for cleaning up his city, if you will."

"I bet he loved that." Seifer laughed hollowly.

"He went completely berserk." Cid confirmed. "I'll never know how a pacifist came by such a colourful turn of phrase."

"So I'm going to take a wild stab and say he cut off diplomatic ties with us." Seifer guessed.

"I hope not, but if he did…" Cid shrugged. "It's no great loss. Sure, he hears things but we were never going to be bosom friends. He doesn't trust us and who can blame him? He's a leader of a pacifist community who, if you want my opinion, is far too peace loving for his own good. We're a military organisation."

"It's not great surprise he doesn't like us." Seifer agreed. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. I do not get pacifism."

"Mayor Dobe is a stubborn so and so, he always has been." Cid muttered. "Do you remember back when Edea was scoring the planet for Ellone?"

"I was coordinating the search." Seifer reminded him. "It's not the sort of thing you forget in a hurry."

"Well when the Galbadian Forces turned up in Fisherman's Horizon we offered our services to kick them out." Cid chuckled at the memory. "Dobe completely flipped out and hurried off to reason with them."

"Ouch." Seifer grimaced. "I bet that went down well."

"Well Squall saved his neck but as you can imagine he didn't do it through use of strong words and rude gestures." Cid shook his head. "Ever since Dobe has felt a combination of gratitude and deep dislike for us. I suppose it was too much for us to expect him to thank us on bended knee for stopping Galbadia from torching his precious city."

"To be fair I do have a vague understanding where he's coming from." Seifer said thoughtfully. "I'd be all for world peace if it didn't put me out of a job. Mind you, you'll never get guys like Zell and Dante to agree to it. They love their jobs. Peace confuses them."

Before Cid could reply and steer the conversation into a full on philosophical debate Quistis put in an appearance, having finally gotten tired of Rinoa's continuous innuendos. She figured the best way to get her to stop was to at least see how she and Seifer played off each other in a social setting.

"Hey Seifer," She said with a smile after inclining her head to Cid who quickly excused himself. "Do you want to dance?"

"Sorry?" Seifer replied, obviously under the impression he'd misheard.

"I said; do you want to dance?" Quistis said impatiently before deciding to elaborate. "With me."

"I don't dance." Seifer said simply.

"You're a SeeD and it's a mandatory part of your training." Quistis hurled back, totally unperturbed. "I saw you dance at the Obsidian Ball. Squall danced at his graduation ball, and if that isn't enough of a revelation, take a look at Selphie's dance partner." She jerked her head at a couple across the floor. Seifer's jaw dropped as he recognised the figure.

"Dante?" He exclaimed. "I though he avoided social functions like the plague."

"Then you clearly don't know him as well as you think you do." Quistis laughed. "I won't leave you alone until you dance with me so you might as well give up now. Take a look up at the balcony if you need another incentive." Seifer complied and saw Xu, in full dress uniform looking out over the floor. She eventually saw Seifer looking at her and dismissed him with a withering glare and obscene hand gesture. "Imagine how Xu would react if she saw you dancing with me. You and I both know she'd go mental."

"She would wouldn't she?" Seifer murmured contemplatively. "Alright, I guess I can stretch to one dance."

"I knew you couldn't resist me for long." Quistis laughed as she took Seifer's hand and led him out onto the floor. "My charm works every time. Now all I have to do is hope Rinoa doesn't take our dancing the wrong way."

"You too huh?" Seifer said. "I think we'll be okay as long as we don't end up dancing to an overly romantic song."

That was when the opening chords of _Wonderful Tonight _by Eric Clapton rang out.

"Shit." Seifer said.

"You had to say that didn't you?" Quistis sighed in frustration. "Tempting fate is an entirely foreign concept to both you and Swift isn't it?"

"Well I can't say for sure about Swift but I don't believe in fate or destiny." Seifer grunted simply. "I think that in this life you make your own luck. I guess now is the best time to tell you something you'd never hear me say any other time."

"Oh really?" Quistis arched an eyebrow at him. "And what might that be?"

"I wet the bed until I was eleven." Seifer announced before bursting out laughing at the expression on Quistis' face. "I'm joking. What I really have to say is the fact that you look beautiful tonight."

"Thank you Seifer." Quistis said sincerely. "I think that might be the nicest thing I've ever heard you say. Permit me to say, you don't look to shabby either, although I was beginning to think I'd never see you in that uniform."

"You and me both." Seifer replied as he spun Quistis around. "Mind you, when I was freezing my unmentionables off in Screamer Mountain I had this sense that the door never closed. It was like I had unfinished business. At the time I convinced myself that it was wishful thinking. Now look at where I am. Who knows where I'll be in a year? Five years? Ten? I don't know about you but that's kind of scary. I don't like not having control over my life."

"None of us have any real control." Quistis said simply. "Before the Obsidian family and Dante showed up on the scene we were just a normal run of the mill mercenary force but now look at us, branching out into the supernatural."

"Do you ever wish it had never happened?" Seifer asked.

"There's a big argument for feeling that way." Quistis said. "If it had never happened, Squall and Rinoa would still be together; maybe the same can be said for Irvine and Selphie. A large number of SeeD's and cadets would still be alive and we'd be blissfully unaware of what goes on around us at dark."

"So that's a yes?" Seifer guessed.

"Not necessarily." Quistis contradicted him. "If this hadn't happened I wouldn't have met Dante. Whatever he is, whatever he's done I still count him among my best friends. Then there's everything that's happened since he arrived on the scene. We captured Renton and stopped him selling high tech kit that could cause us an almighty amount of trouble. We also lifted Vinch Marcus and if it wasn't for Alexander being on our radar he'd still be out there causing mayhem and carnage left right and centre. In conclusion I'm not sure how I feel about the last couple of years."

"I guess we'll be able to figure it out once it's over." Seifer grunted. "I know Alexander's tough but let's take a look at who exactly he's got gunning for him. There's Squall, Dante and Swift. They're the front runners and probably the last three people in the world I'd want to mess with. I suppose you, Zell, Irvine, Selphie and Rinoa all have pretty high claim. Then there's Laguna who'd need only a moments notice to rain the entire Estharian military on the guy. The whole Garden and SeeD organisation are ready, willing and able to march to war on this man and last but not least, you've got me. Does Alexander really think that he'll live through all that? He may be an ancient vampire but he's not God."

"Obviously he thinks he is, otherwise he'd be laying low." Quistis said. "Actually, now I think on it I don't think it'd make much difference to him. He's not the lay low type."

"We'll nail him to the wall." Seifer said confidently, detecting a faint note of worry in Quistis' voice. "It's only a matter of time."

* * *

Rinoa was headed to the bathroom when the door to the men's room opened and Squall (of all people) walked out drying his hands on his jeans. They both halted as they saw her. Rinoa had seen Squall in his SeeD uniform in the ball room but now he was dressed in his everyday combat wear and it looked like he was getting ready for a fight. He had the Lion Heart and the Revolver sheathed diagonally across his back and several throwing knifes strapped to his left thigh. His right though bore a Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol and several ammunition bandoleers. The look was created by the bulking out of his chest, indicating the bullet proof vest he was wearing beneath his shirt.

"Rinoa," Squall nodded at her.

"Squall," Rinoa nodded back sounding a little cagey, though with every reason. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Just keeping my hand in." Squall said evasively. "Sooner or later Alexander's going to kick the door in and if I'm not at my best when he does I won't last two minutes."

"Tell me Squall," Rinoa said frostily. "Did you ever consider that having a Sorceress backing you up might actually give you the edge you need to take him out? Or were you too busy sitting down with your new best friends, Swift Obsidian and Dante Skyle."

"The way I heard it Dante is a lot closer to being your best friend than mine." Squall said coldly. "You have to steer clear of this Rinoa. If you want to talk, wait until Alexander Obsidian is dead. Until then, I don't want you within a mile of the man."

"That's not your decision!" Rinoa snapped. "He's taken from both of us, and more besides. Don't you think that's enough to give me a shot at him?"

"Feel free to take the shot anytime you like." Squall smiled grimly. "If I were you I'd do it quickly. I really shouldn't tell you this but Swift, Dante and I are going to kill him tonight."

"The three of you?" Rinoa exclaimed incredulously. "I think it's going to take a little more than you three to take him down."

"I've planned for that eventuality but we're not best friends anymore so sorry, but I'm not sharing." Squall stated flatly before noticing the change in Rinoa's face and her jaw dropping. "What are you gaping at?" Rinoa didn't reply but simply stared at something over Squall's shoulder. Squall turned around and his heart vaulted into his mouth and he took an involuntary step back.

Standing no more than ten metres away stood the Beast.

"We meet again, Squall Leonhart." The Beast said as it took a few steps forwards and looked down at Squall.

"Get Dante," Squall said to Rinoa out the corner of his mouth. Rinoa looked as if she was about to argue but she seemed to think better of it. She sped off while Squall loosened the quickly release on both gun blade sheaths and stepped forwards until he was face to sternum with the Beast. "Is this going to take long? I'm on a very, tight schedule tonight."

The Beast didn't reply verbally. Instead it opted to backhand Squall, throwing him off his feet and sending him for an aerial tour of the hall. Squall slammed into the wall, punching a large hole in it and fell to the ground. Pain shot through his body but not nearly as much had he not had Guardian Forces Doomtrain and Leviathan bolstering his ability to take a kicking. As the Beast advanced towards him with thunderous footfalls Squall leapt back to his feet and whipped out both gun blades. Sure, hacking away at it hadn't been much help the first time they'd fought but Squall was a big believer in the "if at first you don't succeed, try and try again" approach to enemies that were difficult to kill.

As Squall and the Beast met, Squall attacked with a fast and accurate barrage of cuts and thrusts. As before the blades simply bounced off the thick rock like armour. Squall was unperturbed and he ducked under a retaliatory right hook before dropping to the floor, skidding between the Beast's legs and attacking it from behind. As it spun around to deal with him, Squall danced after it, concentrating his efforts on the Beast's back and shoulders. Sooner or later he'd penetrate the armour and once he figured out how, it would be a relatively easy task to finish him off. That said, the Beast was clearly reading a totally different script. With shocking speed it grabbed both of Squall's forearms, halting his assault instantly. After a few seconds of consideration the Beast elected to nut Squall in the face, knocking him to the ground.

Squall was in bad shape, stunned, semi-conscious and would've got the crap beaten out of him was it not for the timely arrival of Dante. Dante decided the best course of action to deal with the Beast was to distract it and allow Squall to recover. Then they'd have to improvise on the fly. Dante pulled out his sword and charged at the Beast with an inarticulate battle roar. As he neared the Beast he pulled out a flash bang grenade and popping the pin hurled it in the Beast's face where it detonated. Dante's was semi-blinded and deafened by the blast so it had to be a lot worse for the Beast. Dante leapt into the air and delivered a blindingly fast spin kick to the side of the Beast's head. It staggered sideways as Dante landed lightly on his feet before charging forwards, swinging his sword like a man possessed. His attack, like Squall's was similarly ineffective but Dante didn't waste energy with powerful blows. Instead he employed speed, repeatedly attacking the Beast giving it no time to strike back.

Of course it couldn't last forever and the Beast dropped Dante to the floor with a straight arm punch.

"We could be friends." The Beast thundered as it loomed over Squall and Dante. "Why must you continue to oppose me?"

"The mindless smash and slaughter you seem so fond of springs to mind." Dante growled. "That and you really piss me off."

The Beast growled and raised a foot to stomp Dante's head into a sludgy mess. Dante allowed his vampire features to come to the fore as he simply stared up unafraid. The Beast started to bring his foot down and then Squall leapt back to his feet and smashed both gun blades against the Beast's chest. The blades didn't penetrate but they knocked the Beast over and Squall immediately leapt on top of the Beast, pinning his arms to his sides. He tossed his gun blades aside and pulled out his Glock. He quickly checked the magazine before slamming it back in and pulling the slide back to chamber a round. Then he rammed the muzzle of the pistol up beneath the Beast's jaw.

"Now let's see how much armour you have under your chin." He growled.

The Beast easily freed both his arms and punched Squall in the chest with both hands. Squall flew nearly a hundred feet before landing on the directory which crumbled under the force. The Beast got back to his feet and walked slowly over to Dante. He drew back one cloven foot and kicked Dante solidly in the side of the head. The vampire was thrown into the fountain by the force of the blow. His last though before the darkness took him was the realization that this was seriously messing up the plan.

* * *

Meanwhile Swift and Alexander were walking up the path towards the Balamb Garden cemetery. Swift was unarmed, as he planned on ripping Alexander's heart from his chest when the time came. Alexander was armed only with his katana sword and an enormous mad on for anyone who got in his way. It was nearing midnight and the night was almost entirely soundless.

"How do you know where Alice is being held?" Alexander asked Swift who cast a look at his brother.

"I'm just following the directions Squall gave me." Swift grunted. "We may not like it but right now he'd holding all the trump cards. We have to do this right otherwise we'll join Alice in our respective Obsidian Urns. That's the best case scenario."

"You should just grab Alice and get her to safety." Alexander said. "I'll do all the heavy lifting."

"Yeah that'll work." Swift snorted. "What if Dante's there? You promised that I could kill him so how are you going to stop him attacking you and keep your promise to me at the same time?"

"Plans change." Alexander replied. "Besides, I never said that if Dante comes at me I won't defend myself. I also have a major bone to pick with him. You weren't there when be blindsided me and battered me to a bloody pulp with a flaming baseball bat. I'm very petty about that sort of thing."

"I guess it doesn't matter which of us kills him." Swift nodded. "He's been a major thorn in both of our sides and he killed Adrian, so all that matters is that he's dead." They approached a kissing gate that led into the cemetery. Swift walked through but Alexander, for obvious reason simply took a short run up and hurdled it. He grinned at Swift who simply rolled his eyes.

"Is this it?" He asked right before a dozen Seed's armed with melee weapons stood up from behind tombstones and from prone positions on the ground. Alexander chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "So this is the welcoming committee? Six on two, sounds like fun."

"It's twelve on one." Swift corrected as he sat on top of a tombstone. "I've got no quarrel with these guys."

"You've got no quarrel with them?" Alexander exclaimed belligerently. "They work for the man who kidnapped our sister and who has dedicated his newly restored life to ending mine. Me being immortal, you must be able to understand why I'm opposed to that happening. Now are you with me or not?"

"What if I'm not?" Swift demanded.

"Well at the risk of sounding a little clichéd, if you're not with me you're against me." Alexander explained ominously. "You're my enemy."

"It's good to know how far your sibling loyalty extends." Swift said before pulling out a small revolver and firing a shot in the air. "Kill him. Make it painful."

The SeeD's immediately advanced on Alexander who smiled sadistically and went to meet them.

One SeeD thrust with a spear but Alexander sidestepped and swung his sword, cleaving air, spear shaft and SeeD member all in one. He dodged a second SeeD armed with twin sets of brass knuckles and slashed his throat open before spinning his sword around and up, bisecting the third assailant. The fourth and fifth SeeD's moved in on Alexander at the same time. He spitted one through the stomach and punched into the other's chest before ripping his heart clean out. SeeD number six hurled a throwing axe at Alexander who simply ducked out of the way. Then quite suddenly he was right in front of the SeeD as if the space between them had simply not existed. Alexander swung upwards with a fist transformed into gleaming chrome, smashing the SeeD's skull to smithereens with a single blow.

"Six down, six to go." Alexander chanted before hurling himself at the remaining SeeD's. He beheaded one with a single hard swing, before deftly parrying a sword strike and kicking the SeeD in the chest, caving it in completely. The next three SeeD's fell before him like corn to a reaper. Then he sheathed the sword and seized the last SeeD by her long hair with one hand while he relieved her of her sword with the other. Alexander hauled her up to look into his eyes.

"Where, is Squall Leonhart?" He growled all traces of sadistic glee gone from his face, replaced by total, uncompromising, rage.

"I don't know." The SeeD stammered.

"Wrong answer!" Alexander snarled before baring his fangs. The SeeD screamed bloody murder but Alexander paid her no heed as he tore into her neck and proceeded to drink every drop of blood from her body. Then he tossed the body aside and turned back to Swift. "Now brother…" He stopped talking abruptly to see that Swift was nowhere to be seen. Alexander looked around before snorting in disappointment. "Bloody hell."

* * *

Edea was always a light sleeper and recently she'd developed insomnia so she frequently spent her nights wandering the halls of Balamb Garden while Cid snored like a fog horn. The SeeD graduation ball had ended hours ago with Garden security sending the last of the drunken revellers to bed so Edea was surprised to hear footsteps as she sat on the edge of the fountain. She looked up to see Alexander gazing down at her. His sword was unsheathed at his side and he was covered in blood from head to toe.

"Good evening Edea," He said pleasantly. "Maybe morning is a more apt term. I was hoping if you could tell me where I might find Squall?"

"Please Alexander," Edea murmured, her voice shaking. "Don't hurt him. You've done enough. This has gone way too far. Why can't you just let us live in harmony? We never did anything to you."

"I'm a vampire, so the living in harmony thing is out!" Alexander voice cracked through the air. "As for this going too far, well I'd say the fun is just beginning. I tell you what Edea, I won't hurt Squall. I do think I need to send him a message though, and I think you can help me with that."

"I'm not going to do anything to help you." Edea said.

"Oh but you are." Alexander sheathed his sword. "You see, you don't really have a choice in the matter." Quick as a flash Alexander seized Edea by the throat and propelled her headfirst into the fountain. All credit to Edea, she put up a good fight but in the end Alexander was far too strong. Edea's struggles grew weaker and weaker until they finally stopped. Alexander let Edea go, leaving her face down in the water. "Sleep tight Edea."

Then Alexander turned around and walked off, whistling cheerfully.

* * *

**By far, the longest chapter I've ever written. I'm sorry if this took too long but I loved writing it and I'd love to hear what people think of it. It's my favourite chapter of Part III so far. Thank you for your continuous support, MissPhoenix18 and geelouxo, this one's for you.**


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